Shine
by Fire of the lioness
Summary: AU! She is the twin of Galen Potter, the famous Boy Who Lived. While he lives in the spotlight, she is forced to survive in the shadows. But she won´t be alone. Creatures of Magic, prepare for your student! Pairing: FredGeorgeOC
1. Prologue

TOTAL AU! There will be no Sorcerers´ Stone, no Basilisk, no escape from Azkaban (and Sirius has never been sent there) and the Triwizards Tournament may be around later, I´m not sure yet.

Disclaimer: I don´t own anything except for Jenaya Potter

PROLOGUE

Mumbling softly, Sibyll Trelawny studied the crystal orb in front of her. "Yes I see darkness…oooh darkness, maybe I should use blue curtains tonight, that will protect me…" Her musings were cut off when she suddenly sat up rigidly in her chair. The crystal fell from her lifeless hands and shattered on the floor unnoticed. Eyes staring blankly at the wall, she ground out words that described the great changes destined to occur to the magical world.

"_Lightning in the night….. At the tenth stroke She shall triumph over the Darkness….And the shadows shall cherish her.…..Do not turn her away, the child of magic, for She is the key…Destruction or Peace she shall bring….Creatures of Magic prepare for your student…."_

Blinking owlishly the seer looked at the broken artifact on the floor. She let out a shriek of dismay. "Seven years of bad luck! I knew I should have used the blue curtains." Wailing at her bad fortune the woman turned to check her teacups for signs how to avoid bad luck, her prophetic words easily forgotten. She never noticed the house elf that stood frozen in a corner of the room, frantically trying to understand his Mistress´ words. He was about to contact his Eldars for help when a feeling of wrongness filled him. He understood immediately. Magic herself did not wish for anyone to know these words yet. Nodding decisively Dinky went back to his cleaning determined to keep it a secret. He would not disobey his creator.

That same night at ten o´clock the Dark Lord Voldemort attacked Godrics Hollow and perished when his own attack was bounced back. The two children, a little boy and girl clung to each other, silent tears running down their little cheeks at the sight of the dead babysitter and the corps of the Dark Lord.

END PROLOGUE

Very short I know, but I´ll post chapter one right away.


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don´t own them, wish I did though.

CHAPTER ONE

thoughts´

"talking English"

LAST CHAPTER

That same night at ten o´clock the Dark Lord Voldemort attacked Godrics Hollow and perished when his own attack was bounced back. The two children, a little boy and girl clung to each other, silent tears running down their little cheeks at the sight of the dead babysitter and the corps of the Dark Lord.

"Happy birthday sweetie. Oh my big boy is six." Lily Potter crooned at her son. Voices rang from all sides. "Happy birthday prongslet" "Happy birthday young man." "Happy birthday Mr Potter."

The boy grinned adorably and his blue eyes sparkled with joy at the attention he was receiving. His eyes took in the brightly decorated Great Hall, filled with smiling people. They were all here for him! Mum, Dad, Uncle Padfoot, Uncle Moony, Auntie Minnie and of course Grampa Albus. Galen puffed his chest up. He felt elated and very, very important. After all, not everybody gets the greatest light wizard on their birthday party.

The other faces all seemed a little familiar, but Galen couldn´t put names to them. _´Ah well, they probably don´t expect me to. They are here for me, not the other way around.´_ Happy to have cleared that up, Galen bounced to his Dad. He walked by the window and waved to the reporters that were trying to get inside of Hogwarts. At once they started yelling questions through the glass.

"_How does The Boy Who Lived like his birthday?" _

"What will you do today?"

"Who was invited?"

"Can we get an interview?"

It went on and on. Galen grinned at the reporters who were trying to get a good photo of him. He was used to reporters, they were always there. He held up his little hand and they were quiet immediately. A rush of satisfaction went through him when they obeyed him. It felt good to have such control and power over them. _´But why shouldn´t they do exactly as I say. I am The Boy Who Lived. They owe me big time.´ _He took a breath and rambled the line he had rehearsed with Daddy and Grampa Albus.

"Thank you all for coming. I will answer your questions in separate interviews later today."

That seemed to satisfy the reporters. They made themselves comfortable on the Quidditch Pitch, waiting for the interviews. Galen nodded and continued on his way. He threw himself in his Dad´s arms and squeeled happily when he was lifted and spun around.

"My big boy. You know exactly how to handle those reporters don´t you? So smart. Just like your daddy." James Potter beamed at his son, an exact copy of him both in looks and in behavior. He was so proud when he found out that his child would be the prophecy child. But when he and Lily came home that night to find Godric´s Hollow in ruins and the babysitter dead, he had been scared. So very scared to loose that little bright eyed child.

A little voice in the back of James´ head reminded him that Galen wasn´t the only one who had been in danger that night. That James and Lily Potter in fact had two children…

But James pushed the voice away. Jenaya could never be the One. Yes, she did have a scar from "the night of victory" as James had dubbed it. The greeneyed girl had a lightingbolt on her temple trailing down past her left eye, but that was only an ugly scratch compared to the glorious heartshaped scar on Galen´s forehead. No, Galen was the strong one, the good one and above all the famous one. He and Lily should stick to their plan and focus all their love and attention to their little hero. Jenna was doing fine on her own.

Bringing his attention back to the child in his arms he walked to the staff of Hogwarts. "Galen, I would like you to meet Fillius Flitwick. He is the Charms teacher here at Hogwarts. He will teach you all you need to know in a few years."

Galen jumped out of his fathers arms and looked at the tiny man. "Hi, I´m Galen Potter." After a moment of silence he added. "You are really small. I´m taller than you."

Flitwick squeeked a little in exitement. "Mister Potter, it is an honour to meet you. And yes I am not very tall, but I know the levitation charm very well if I need to reach anything."

A small giggle escaped Galen´s lips. "I just tell Daddy when I want something." He looked at his father as he felt his hand push him gently to the next person.

"Come on son, there are more people I want you to meet."

Galen smiled happily. More people meant more presents. "Okay Dad. Bye Mr Flitwick." He didn´t wait for an answer and followed his Dad to the other teachers. After a lot of boring introductions they reached the end of the line. Still snickering behind his hand at the stuttering DADA teacher, Galen looked on. A darklooking man stood there scowling at everybody.

Secure in the knowledge that everybody delighted in talking to The Boy Who Lived, Galen stepped forward to make that sour face light up in adoration. He didn´t even notice that his father called him back from the man or that the man was glaring at him. "Hello I am Galen Potter. Who are you?"

"Go pester someone else you arrogant brat." The man sneered.

James had seen what happened and stormed forward. "Leave him alone, Snivellus. You´re not wanted here. Go play with your poisons, maybe you´ll kill yourself and make us all happy." To his son he added. "This is Snape. He teaches potions at Hogwarts, hopefully not anymore when you go to school. He´s a Slytherin. " Galen´s eyes lit up in recognision. He had been told many horrible stories about his father´s enemy. He scrunched his face up in disgust and stared at the dark man. "This is Snivellus?"

It took Snape every bit of control he had not to hex the little horror into oblivion. Snape settled for his deadliest glare, slightly appeased when the boy flinched away. But before he could deliver a scatching comment James had led the little brat away to meet the Minister of Magic from Bulgaria and the Magical Emperor of France.

Snape sneered at seeing how the boy was treated by everybody. They were making him twice as arrogant as Potter. Mentally shivering at the thought of someone worse than his nemesis, Snape stalked out of the Great Hall. He had been forced to attend the brat´s birthdayparty by Albus, but he had enough.

Walking through the halls he stilled when he heard a soft whisper. Unable to place the voice, Snape silently walked to the corridor where the sound came from.

"…so I´m walking around a bit. I´m very sorry to have disturbed you, Milady."

A cultured voice answered. "Very well, child. You are forgiven."

Snape stilled a moment in astonishment. That was the Grey Lady speaking. It was a wellknown fact that the Ravenclaw Ghost rarely spoke. Curiosity peaked he rounded the corner and surveyed the scene.

A thin girl of about six years old stood before the intimidating ghost. Her head was bowed slightly in respect. Her hair was a dark red, with a few streaks of the deepest midnight black Snape had ever seen. The hair was slightly wavy and reached down to her knees in a loose ponytail. A few loose strings framed her pale face. Her cheekbones were high and aristocratic, yet the face had a soft quality. It would have been a perfect doll face if not for the lightning scar trailing down her face. It made her look more worldwise. Her eyes were a startling emerald. They swirled with life, though to the trained eyes of Snape an understream of pain and loneliness was evident.

This girl had felt too much pain for one so young.

Snape was so caught in his observations that he almost missed the reactions to his entrance. The Grey Lady turned to him and smiled knowingly. The Ravenclaw ghost and Slytherin Head of House had always been on good terms . "Good day Potions Master . I see you escaped the party like us."

Nodding once at the beautiful ghost, Snape turned to the child. One elegant eyebrow raised in inquiry he spoke. "Why would you wish to escape this party? I am under the impression every child wants to meet the famous Boy-Who-Lived." He sneered the last part.

To his astonishment the girl didn´t leap to the defense of the boy wonder. She just hung her head and mumbled. "Already know him. Wish I didn´t actually."

As an honorable Slytherin he couldn´t just ask why. Instead Snape spoke a thoughtful "Indeed" in the hope she would explain. She didn´t. She just stood there, staring at him, taking in the formal dressrobe. Her eyes slid to the sign of his status. "Potions Master" She murmered to herself. "But the Potions Master of Hogwarts…"

At his familycrest her eyes lingered and then widened. Taking a quick step back, she brought her right fist against her heart and bowed curtly. "Lord Snape."

To hide his surprise at the child´s knowledge of the old ways, Snape sneered. "Yes I am Lord Snape, Potions Master of Hogwarts and I demand to know your name."

The girl blanched slightly. "Forgive me, Lord. My name is Jenaya Potter, pleased to meet you."

"Potter?" Snape glared. "Family of the brat and bastards in the Great Hall?"

Jenna lowered her gaze. "Yes Lord, I am Galen´s twin."

Snape was thrown. He didn´t like surprises and this child had given him too many of them already. He made his voice as scatching as possible and revelled in the rapid paling of the girls face. "Don´t lie, girl. The Potters only have one child. Now tell me your name."

"Please, Lord Snape. I do not lie. My parents do not speak of me often, but they did name me and I do carry their blood. Please Lord, I would not dare lie to one of the ancient lines." Jenna begged desperately.

Deep inside Snape knew she was telling the truth. The child had obviously studied the ancient laws, that stated the superiority of certain lines. Those rights were rarely used nowadays and most High Ancestries were forgotten. It wasn´t common knowledge that the Snapes were an ancient line, so the child had been welleducated. But how could that be with James Potter as a father?

The Grey Lady had drifted off, leaving the two mortals alone. Snape prowled around the girl like a predator, while the girl stood frozen waiting for the inevitable attack like a good prey. "And do tell, why won´t your _parents _" the disgust was obvious in his voice "speak of you, miss Potter?"

Jenna looked up and snarled at the thought of her family. "Because I am not The One That Lived, now am I?" Realizing just who was talking to, she quickly added. "I apologise, Lord. I shouldn´t have.."

Tuning out the apology, Snape went over his options. The girl was a Potter, yet she lacked all horrible aspects of the Potter line. She wasn´t arrogant and judging her words not spoiled either. She showed a great amount of respect for the old lines and seemed intelligent. Her only problem was her selfworth. Snape prided himself in picking up details others would have missed. In the few minutes he had spent with her, he concluded that the child didn´t get much positive attention. Having a brother like the brat in the Hall would mean she was completely overlooked. And it had almost crushed her.

A smirk crept on Snape´s face. He could take this girl under his wing. Secretly of course. He could educate her and mould her into a respectable witch, maybe even a Slytherin. She had the potential to be great. By then her loyalty would be with him and James Potter would have to watch his child siding with his greatest enemy. Revenge at last.

Realizing the girl had stopped talking and was now nervously awaiting his answer, Snape drew himself up to his full 6´4. He ignored the scared whimper and spoke softly. "How did you learn about the old ways?"

Jenna´s face brightened as it always did when she thought of her books. "I read it in the Potter Library, Lord. It is fascinating."

Snape nodded. He just wanted it confirmed that the girl was studying by herself and was indeed worthy of his time. "Follow me."

END CHAPTER ONE

NB. I switched the point of view a few times, because I want to show the mentality of some of the characters. Galen seems like a perfect little boy, but I tried to bring in flashes of the arrogant and spoilt child he´s growing into.

Review if you want me to post the next chapter. I hope you liked it.


	3. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don´t own anything except for Jenaya Potter

CHAPTER TWO

thoughts´

"talking English"

LAST CHAPTER

A smirk crept on Snape´s face. He could take this girl under his wing. Secretly of course. He could educate her and mould her into a respectable witch, maybe even a Slytherin. She had the potential to be great. By then her loyalty would be with him and James Potter would have to watch his child siding with his greatest enemy. Revenge at last.

Realizing the girl had stopped talking and was now nervously awaiting his answer, Snape drew himself up to his full 6´4. He ignored the scared whimper and spoke softly. "How did you learn about the old ways?"

Jenna´s face brightened as it always did when she thought of her books. "I read it in the Potter Library, Lord. It is fascinating."

Snape nodded. He just wanted it confirmed that the girl was studying by herself and was indeed worthy of his time. "Follow me."

Still bewilderd Jenna followed the intimidating Lord to the dungeons. She didn´t understand him. One minute he was berating her for being of the Potterline, the next he was quiet in thought and seemed to have forgotten all about her. And now he just ordered her to come with him. Maybe coming to Hogwarts hadn´t been such a good idea.

Jenna had always known she wasn´t really part of the Potter family. Her parents rarely spoke to her and if they did it was only to compare her to her ´wonderful´ brother. She sighed. That wonderful boy went out of his way to show her she was not as good as he was. He was always saying mean things and making trouble for her.

After that horrible night many years ago, everybody started treating him like some god. And by now he was so used to getting his way that he would throw a terrible tantrum when that didn´t happen. That had been the reason their strong twinbond had dissolved. At first Jenna had tried to keep her brother grounded and close to her, but it was futile. What Galen wanted, Galen got. And finally neither Galen not her parents want boring Jenna around anymore. Dismayed Jenna had tried many outragous thing to attract her family´s attention, but in doing that she had driven them away. They thought of her a nuisance and a troublemaker. Finally she gave up and became silent.

She hid in the library and taught herself how to read. One day she came across a book with simple stories and quickly became fascinated with the Ancient world. She soaked up the information, not even realising that she was learning the rules of the Old Ways.

On sunny days she took to wandering the forest that surrounded Potter Castle. It never occurred to her it could be dangerous, because it just felt like home. There she met her first friend, the Centaur Denaro. To this day she still did not understand why, but he had looked at her solemny and then started telling a story about the stars. Gripped by the new world Jenna came back often to listen and learned more and more about the Centaurs, Centaur lore and their magic.

Her love for stories eventually brought her in contact with other creatures. Slowly she gained a whole network of friends and storytellers from the Vampire race, the Goblins, the Veela, the Werewolves and House elves. Largely unnoticed by her, the storytellers gradually changed the meetings into lessons about the creature´s languages, customs and magic. Jenna loved everything they taught her and poured all she had into understanding.

Her trips out of the house became longer each time she went away. At Potter Castle Jenna deeply missed the feeling of belonging and safety she felt in the presence of her storytellers. When the trips began to stretch for months, the house elves stepped in. Lily and James Potter didn´t often remember their daughter, but if it was necessary Mipsy and Tinky covered Jenna´s absence. And when Jenna was within the Castle walls they did everything they could to make her feel at home. They told stories about the House Elf Eldars and how the House-Elves had come to be.

Although Jenna was ecstatic about her friends, nothing could quite fill the emptiness caused by her family´s betrayal. That was what had prompted her to hitch a ride to the big party today. She had used her fathers invisibility cloak and touched the portkey just in time to get to Hogwarts. Jenna had been excited to meet new people and maybe make some friends, but when she looked at the big room filled with people she had panicked. Loud voices and sweating bodies all around! Stumbling out of the room she had collapsed in the hallway.

The scatching words of her father rang in her ears. "_You want to come to our boy´s party? Really that´s a bit stupid, girl. Do you really think anyone will want to talk to you? Just stay home, it will save you the humiliation."_

Shaking all over she had tried to escape through the Gates, but she was stopped by the Grey Lady and then HE came. The reference to the Potions Master of Hogwarts had sparked a memory, but Jenna just couldn´t lay the finger on it. Her eyes had found the family crest, a picture of two silver snakes ready to attack.

Suddenly Jenna remembered reading a story about a young weaponsmith who was saved by his Liege, Lord Snape of the House of the Silver Snakes …

Summoning all she knew about the proper ways, Jenna had adressed him. She knew the man would not be happy when he found out she was a Potter. She had heard the name ´Snivellus Snape´ often enough to know this was an enemy of her father. But that only made him more impressive. This man had stood up to her father.

That was probably why she was now following him blindly into his own territory.

He lead her quickly to his chambers and left Jenna in the living room with a short "Stay here and don´t touch anything". Jenna looked around in interest. The room was void of any personal items, yet the fire and soft green couch made it cozy. She sat down, waiting for the man to come back. Two minutes later he emerged from his bedroom with two big wooded boxes.

Lord Snape put them in front of her on the table. He looked at her searchingly and then nodded to himself. "Yes, you´ll do just fine."

"Lord Snape?" Jenna asked hestitantly. She was beginning to get a bit frustrated with the lack of explanation.

"Tell me girl, are you interested in learning about magic?"

Jenna blinked. "Yes, Lord. Very much, but James won´t teach me. He thinks it´s a waste of time to teach me, when he could be using that time for Galen."

Lord Snape sneered. "You call your father by his first name?"

Blushing, Jenna nodded. She had stopped calling her parents ´mum and dad´ years ago. It just didn´t hurt as much if she kept some distance between them and her. Now it was ´James´ and ´Lily´ and ´sir´ and ´ma´am´. They hadn´t even noticed her switch.

The Lord sneered again, he seemed to do that a lot, Jenna thought absently. "I don´t want to hear another word about that idiot. Now pay attention. I am a Master and I am willing to take you as my Apprentice. If you accept, I expect you to give your education everything you´ve got, I won´t stand for a slacker, and I expect obedience without question. Can you give me that?"

Jenna couldn´t look away from the piercing eyes. He was willing to take her as an Apprentice. Lord Snape wanted hér, the stupid little sister of Galen Potter as his Apprentice! She could vividly remember the story about how the farmboy Mikael was chosen as an Apprentice and how smart and powerful he became. Pulling all the details about the ceremony from her memory, Jenna realised there was one thing she would have to tell before she could surrender to this Master. Quietly Jenna explained about her trips to the different magical beings and waited anxiously for Lord Snape´s reaction.

She watched his face as he thought it over. "I believe that will work out well, a broad education is important. I wish to meet your storytellers though and I want reports about your time with them."

A smile lit up Jenna´s face. It made her look like the six years she was, instead of the grownup she was mentally. "Then I would very much like to become your Apprentice, Lord Snape, with all the requirements you set."

Searching her pockets, Jenna pulled out a black stone. It was custom for the new Apprentice to offer their most prized possession to their Master for safekeeping to show their dedication. If the gift wasn´t a truly treasured gift or the Apprentice wasn´t completely honest the magic would refuse the Apprentice and and kill him or her in the magical backlash.

Sliding to her knees, she waited for the man in front of her to speak.

"I, Lord Severus Alexander Snape, Potions Master and Head of the Snape House call upon the ancient magic to bind this girl to me as my Apprentice. I will teach her all I know to allow her reach her greatest potential. May this be so until the time comes that I deem her worthy to be on her own."

Jenna took her cue as she felt a hand settle on her head. Focusing on the magic surrounding them she chanted. "I, Jenaya Eleanora Potter, youngest daughter of the Potter House call upon the ancient magic to bind me to my new Master, Lord Severus Alexander Snape. In return for his lessons I will obey and respect him. May this be so until the time comes that he deems me worthy to be on my own." Taking a deep breath she held out her hand with the black stone. It had been her first ever present, given by her Werewolf friend Vivian. Viv had seen Jenna´s sadness at spending her fourth birthday alone and had sought out the most beautiful stone in the riverbench for her.

The stone was Jenna´s most treasured possession and now she had to give it up. Pushing back the tears by thinking of all the magic she could learn, she spoke in a steady voice. "I give up my beloved stone to my Master. I ask for the magic to judge me and my gift."

A strong wind circled the two figures in the room. When the wind died down, Jenna looked around for a sign that the ceremony had worked. The first thing she noticed were the bracelets that adorned her wrists. They were metal and flush against her skin. It gave her the odd feeling of wearing very soft manacles. Shivering slightly she took a closer look. The Snape crest was ingraved in them, as well as the sign for an Apprentice. The odd tingle of magic alerted her to the fact that there was an unbreakable invisibility charm on them, for anyone who did not know about the Apprenticeship.

Looking up at her new Master she saw the stone she had given him. It now hung on a chain around his neck. He was studying it, but Jenna noticed he made no move to take it off.

Sensing her eyes on him, Lord Snape looked at her. "Did you have something to say, Apprentice?"

Jenna nodded and spoke shyly. "Lord…Master, what am I to call you? And do you wish me to tell the Potters?"

"I do not want anyone to know about our arrangement yet. You will call me Master in private and Professor Snape in public. Not Lord Snape." At her look he added. "Yes I know it is my proper title, but I don´t want it to be public knowledge. It would call unwanted attention to me."

Nodding her understanding, Jenna waited for further instructions. "Now, this box is a send-box. It is a two way portal through which we can communicate. If I put something in my box and close the lid it will arrive at your box immediately. That way I will send you your books and assignments and you can send me your work and questions back. Every other weekend you will stay in my Manor to show your magical progress. If I am not pleased with you, there will be consequences. Is that understood?"

Jenna nodded vigorously. "Yes Master. I understand. I will work very hard."

And that was it. Jenna went back to the Potter Castle through the private floo in her Master´s study and nobody besides the Grey Lady and Master ever knew she had been anywhere near Hogwarts on the day of the big party.

END CHAPTER TWO

NB. You may have noticed Snape´s title changes a bit during this chapter. That´s because it is written from Jenna´s point of view. To her he isn´t ´Snape´, he is Lord Snape´. She adresses him as Lord´ because it is his title, like another would use Sir´. From now on he will be Master´.

Post a review please!


	4. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don´t own anything except for Jenaya Potter

CHAPTER THREE

thoughts´

"talking English"

LAST CHAPTER

Nodding her understanding, Jenna waited for further instructions. "Now, this box is a send-box. It is a two way portal through which we can communicate. If I put something in my box and close the lid it will arrive at your box immediately. That way I will send you your books and assignments and you can send me your work and questions back. Every other weekend you will stay in my Manor to show your magical progress. If I am not pleased with you, there will be consequences. Is that understood?"

Jenna nodded vigorously. "Yes Master. I understand. I will work very hard."

And that was it. Jenna went back to the Potter Castle through the private floo in her Master´s study and nobody besides the Grey Lady and Master ever knew she had been anywhere near Hogwarts on the day of the big party.

Jenna looked up from her book when a beam of light fell on her face. She smiled when she saw the sun peaking over the tall treetops. As was her routine, Jenna stretched her cramped muscles, from two hours of reading and went outside for a quick run. Master had given her a strict schedule to follow. At first it had been hard, but now after almost eight years she didn´t even think it strange. She glanced fondly at the bracelets adorning her wrists. They now brought a feeling of comfort and belonging.

Unknown to the other inhabitants of Potter Castle, Jenna read every morning from 5 to 7 o´clock. Around that time the sun rose, so she went outside for a run. With Master´s help she had built up her stamina and now Jenna could run up to forty five minutes without being winded. Her strong body was important for using magic. A strong body and a welltrained mind were essential for a strong witch or wizard.

That had been the first focus, training her mind. Master had begun to train her in meditation and most importantly Occlumency. Jenna shivered at the thought of those lessons. Master was a hard taskmaster.

FLASHBACK

Jenna panted hard from her spot on the floor. Five months ago Master had started with the practical Occlumency. After reading so much theory, she had been exited to learn real magic but this was horrible. It didn´t matter how much she practiced, she just couldn´t do it. Jenna knew her Master was becoming impatient with her, but she couldn´t clear her mind enough. The strict voice she was becoming to loathe, sneered. "Get up. Clear your mind, Apprentice."

Shakily she rose to her feet and attempted to clear her mind of her stray thoughts. Al too soon the whispered spell came towards her. "_Legilimens_"

A run in with Galen played in her mind, despite her desperate attempts to stop it.

A hard push knocked her to the ground. Her head spinning Jenna looked up to see Galen standing over her with a few of his friends. "Look guys. This is my freak sister." Galen grinned evilly. "Do you know what to do with a freak like this?"

The boys shook their heads uneasily. Galen smirked and answered his own question. "You beat the freakishness out of them." With that he kicked her hard in the stomach. Jenna gasped against the pain. She could still make out the unsure expressions on the faces of the guests and held out a small hope that one of them would help her.

Galen must have noticed her gaze because he started laughing. "Oh will you look at that! She actually thinks you will help her. As if any of you will choose her over me?" His tone was menacing enough to get through to all the boys and they looked from the girl on the floor to the boy hero in front of them.

Suddenly one of the boy swung his foot back and landed it in Jenna´s back hard. He looked up at Galen for approval, ignoring Jenna´s cry of pain. When he saw what he was looking for he started an all out barrage on the defenseless body on the floor. That convinced the other boys to join in.

The last thing Jenna saw before she blacked out was Galen leaning against the wall, looking very satisfied at the turn of events.

The memory blurred away and made place for a long forgotten memory.

She peaked around the door and saw her Mum, Dad and brother sitting at the table. Gurgling happily she wobbled to the table. But before she reached it she fell over. Her legs were still shaky. Crying she held out her arms to be picked up, but Lily and James only had eyes for her brother.  
"Look at our big boy, James. I bet he´ll be able to walk in a few months. He is so smart!"

"I know Lils. Our child is remarkable."

A tear ran down little Jenna´s face. Maybe they had forgotten about her. She shook her head. NO! She would not let them forget. She would make them remember her. Her eye fell on the bright red curtains and the burning candle close to it.

She wobbled closer and pushed the candle against the fabric. Watching the pretty colors, Jenna smiled. She was sure Mommy and Daddy would like her show and then she would get a hug too.

Memories filtered by, all testament to her horrible childhood. Suddenly the memories stopped and Jenna came back to the normal world. She was shaking all over and crying hysterically. "I´m sorry Master. I can´t do it. Weak. Worthless. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry."

She kept babbling excuses until a potion was forced down her throat. Jenna felt herself calm down quickly and she sagged to the ground. Defeated with the lack of succes she peered through her eyelashes at her Master. He stood there waiting calmly, arms crossed over each other.

"Are you quite finished?"

Jenna nodded timidly and whispered. "Yes Master."

"Good." Master sneered slightly. "I must say you disappoint me, Apprentice. I will not have you saying you are worthless. Do you really believe I would waste my time on someone who did not have potential? I am a Lord. Do you think me that stupid?"

Jenna blushed in embarrassment. "Of course not Master. I apologise."

Master nodded curtly. "Open your Occlumency for beginners and read pages 1 to 50. We´ll start with going over the theory again and we´ll practice. You will succeed, Apprentice."

FLASHBACK END

After that she had completed her Occlumency shields by working her ass off for seven months. It was very hard, but Master pushed her on. Although he never said it, Jenna knew Master was proud of her. It was quite an accomplishment for an eightyearold to have such superb shields. As a reward he had taken her to a shop in Knockturn Alley for a wand without a monitoringspell. She had gotten a wand from the tree of wisdom, the Alcya tree from the Goblin kingdom. Her core was a hair of a Demiguise soaked in the blood of a Hungarian Horntail dragon.

After mastering her mind, learning had been a lot easier. She picked things up faster and the magical theory was comprehendable. Master set up a schedule for the days she was at Potter Castle, when she was with her storytellers she was to keep as close to the schedule as possible while doing the work for her storytellers as well. Every other morning a new book appeared in the send-box. Two hours of reading were followed by an hour running through the forest. Then breakfast, followed by another four hours of reading, lunch and then practicing spells and potions until dinner. The evenings were for practicing hand to hand combat. Her favorite weapons were daggers, because the swords were too big for her small frame.

The weekends at Snape Manor quickly became her favorite times. Master dueled with her, helped her with things she didn´t understand but just talked with her as well. Jenna always tried her hardest and it had won her the respect of her Master. Although he hardly ever complimented her, she could see the glimps of approval in his eyes when she mastered a subject.

Jenna had grown and blossomed. She was very cheerful and playful when she felt comfortable, though she was mature for her age. She couldn´t block her emotions very well and still had the impulsiveness of a Gryffindor, but her mind was Slytherin, moulded by her Master. Master had spent hours on destroying her bad self image and selfdoubts. He painstakingly helped her build up a sense of worth until she radiated a quiet confidence in her every move.

The only problem she still coped with was her fear of her family. Over the years, the Potter´s treatment of her had steadily worsened. When Jenna was now faced with Galen, Lily and especially James she reverted back to the timid girl that believed herself to be wrong about everything. Neither Master nor any of her storytellers could remedy that fear. Master hoped that she would make some friends in Hogwarts who would help her with that.

She smiled in anticipation. In three days she would turn fourteen and then it was only one more month until September the first. Three years ago, Headmaster Dumbledore had decided it was too dangerous for the two Potter children to go to Hogwarts when they turned eleven because there had been talk of a rising darkness. Galen had thrown a terrible temper tantrum but not even he could change the old man´s mind about it. In the end Galen had extracted the promise to be allowed into the school on his fourteeth, regardless of the possible danger. Dumbledore misunderstood and assured Lily and James that _both_ their children would be welcomed at Hogwarts then. He even arranged for private teachers to come to the Potter Castle to make sure the children would be at the same level as the Hogwarts kids. Luckily for Jenna, the teachers hardly ever seemed to realize they actually had two children to teach, instead focusing all their attention on The Boy Who Lived. That left Jenna with the time to study for her Master and her storytellers.

Gathering her stuff she prepared for the trip to Snape Manor she made every other weekend. The clock rang eight and with a swirl Jenna took off as the portkey transported her. She landed gracefully on her feet in the entrance Hall.

Gliding over to the livingroomdoor, she straightened her clothes and knocked sharply.

"Enter" Master´s muffled voice rang out.

Jenna smiled and walked in quickly. Master didn´t like waiting. "Goodmorning Master."

Master glanced at up from his book and nodded once. "Apprentice." Jenna sat down in her chair by the window and waited patiently for Master to finish his reading. It only took ten minutes before the deep voice startled her out of her thoughts. "I have a surprise for you. Today I will test you in all your subjects. As you know you will be going to Hogwarts in a month, so our arrangement will have to change."

Ice- cold fear gripped Jenna at her heart. Her voice trembled as she asked the question she didn´t really want an answer to. "Y-you wish to terminate my Apprenticeship, Master?" Her thoughts ran wild. ´_He can´t send me away! What did I do wrong?´_

Master glowered at her. "Apprentice I thought I had gotten it through to you that I won´t send you away. You are a good student with potential that must be explored. I don´t want to hear any of these ridiculous things again. Do you understand, Apprentice?"

Taking a calming breath, Jenna answered evenly. "Yes Master. That was foolish, I apologise."

Inside, her heart was leaping as she realized Master wanted to keep her.

He gave one more glare and then settled back in his chair. "That´s better. As I said our arrangement will change. You will keep training and reading what I send you. Once a month we will meet and I can test you." Master stood up and stalked to the window. "You will do well in your classes, but don´t show them how advanced you are. Tell no-one of your Apprenticeship and for Merlin´s sake don´t let them know about your many dark friends. Wizards don´t like Vampires, Goblins or House elves."

Jenna nodded. It all sounded reasonable.

"Good. Then we will begin with Transfiguration. Transfigure that table into a horse." Jenna flicked her wrist and her wand was in her hand in an instant. The rest of the afternoon Master set her task after task to evaluate her.

Seven hours later Jenna collapsed into her chair. Master looked pleased and read his notes aloud. "Well, you are at graduation level for Astronomy, Athrimancy and Runes. I had expected nothing less from a student of the Centaurs. Transfiguration, Charms, DADA and Dueling are at Auror level. Potions is acceptable for a second year potions apprentice, that is two years beyond Auror level. Your knowledge of the old laws and traditions is of course impeccable, as a pureblood should be. You need to reread your lawbooks for modern laws though. You seem to have forgotten most of it. Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology too are lacking. You are at fifthyear level, only one year more skill than your peers from Hogwarts. That will have to be remedied. Finally your way with Magical Beings is due to your own research and trips up to Master Level." The darkhaired man looked at the exhausted child. A rare smile graced his lips. "I am proud of you Apprentice."

Jenna shot up at those words and stared at her Master. A few seconds later a blinding smile appeared on her face. For the first time in eight long years Master had told her he was proud of her! "Thank you Master."

Master was already back to his normal sneering self, but Jenna couldn´t keep smile of her face. He ignored it and continued. "We will continue with conjuration and wordless spells at Hogwarts. These six months you will raise your level at the subjects were you did less than satisfactory, but most important I believe we can now start with Animagus training. Read The animal inside of you pages 1 to 30. I will be back in two hours. After dinner I will explain your test for tonight."

Jenna nodded and grabbed the book. Her eyes flew over the first page, taking in all important facts and rejecting the unnecessary babble. She was already deeply immersed when her Master left the room, nodding his head satisfied.

Two short hours later Master and Apprentice were eating silently. Dinner was always in silence. Master hated small talk and niceties. He was more one for a quiet room, with a nice book in it. That was why he was so pleased with his Apprentice. She never bothered him unless it was needed.

When the House Elves had cleared away the last food, Master informed Jenna about her challenge for the night. "You will stay in the forest tonight. Leave your wand here, but take your daggers." He stood up and strode out. By the door he stopped and called over his shoulder. "You might want to take a cloak, there is a storm coming."

She nodded. "Yes Master. I will be outside in fifteen minutes." Surviving in the forest at night had been punishment before. Once when she had thrown a fit about the amount of books she had to read, Master had gotten so angry her had made her stay in the forest without food or shelter for three days. She had come back wet and whimpering like a kicked dog. Needless to say she had been on her best behavior the next few months.

These days a night in the forest was nothing special. Of course it was uncomfortable, but it was also extra survivaltraining. After packing her warmest cloak and sheathing her daggers, Jenna walked out to the front door. Master was waiting there for her. He held out his hand and Jenna placed her wand in it without hestitation. "I will pick you up tomorrow."

"Until tomorrow then, Master." The soon to be fourteen-year-old strode out confidently heading straight towards the dark forest surrounding Snape Manor.

END CHAPTER THREE

Review please!


	5. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don´t own anything except for Jenaya Potter.

CHAPTER FOUR

thoughts´

"talking English"

°°Vampire language, also called Vampiric Mot°°

LAST CHAPTER

These days a night in the forest was nothing special. Of course it was uncomfortable, but it was also extra survivaltraining. After packing her warmest cloak and sheathing her daggers, Jenna walked out to the front door. Master was waiting there for her. He held out his hand and Jenna placed her wand in it without hestitation. "I will pick you up tomorrow."

"Until tomorrow then, Master." The soon to be fourteen-year-old strode out confidently heading straight towards the dark forest surrounding Snape Manor.

Three hours later she had made a fire with her muggle lighter and had set up camp in an empty cave. She had checked it out for traces of animals living there, but she hadn´t found anything. Briefly touching the long scar on her right arm, Jenna chuckled. _At least I learned something from last time. ALWAYS check for tracks, unless you want to find a bear in your bed´_

Out of the corner of her eye, Jenna caught a movement. Quickly drawing her daggers, she crouched down, trying to make as small a target as possible. Suddenly the hairs on the back of her neck stood up straight. There was someone behind her. She swirled around just in time to see a circle of dark figures close around her.

One of them stepped towards her. Jenna tensed but did not yet attack. Something in her told her these people were dangerous, but they wouldn´t harm her. Not much anyway. Expanding her senses she examined the figures. _´They´re Vampires. And this one is a Guardian!´ _A Guardian was one of the highest ranks in the Nightwalkers´ society. The Vampire world was built on ranks, because the whole society was one big army. The Vampires of the Royal Family were the absolute rulers. They appointed several Guardians, who in turn could appoint Maxoda, the next rank. After the Maxoda came the Prefores, then the Sarem and finally the common soldiers. Vampires who refused to follow the strict rules became Rogues. Rogues were outcasts and were hunted down to be killed. The Rogues had been the reason for the many wars the Vampires had fought, because the Rogues randomly drained beings from other races. The King had forbidden the feeding on non-Vampires without permission almost five centuries ago.

Tilting her head slightly to the left in a gesture of peace and respect Jenna spoke in the Vampire language. °°Welcome. May your blood flow richly, Guardian Nightwalker. What brings you to my camp?°°

The Vampire didn´t speak. Just as Jenna was beginning to wonder if the Master Vampire would reject her greeting, a baritone rumbled. °°May your blood flow as well, young sorceress. Am I correct that you are the lightning child so many of my people speak of?°°

Jenna inclined her head. °°Yes I am, Guardian.°° At his silent question she brushed her hair aside to show the lightningbolt.

He reached out and touched her briefly on the scar. °°You are so young…°° The Guardian was speaking to himself. His hand accidentally brushed over Jenna´s left shoulder. Suddenly he pulled back his hand and looked at her in shock. °°I sense…that is not possible. You are one of us?°°

Nodding slowly, Jenna took off her cloak and bared her left shoulder. A small tattoo of a grey snake with two scarred puncture marks below it, stood out against her pale skin.

FLASHBACK

Nine-year-old Jenna put down the pencil with a satisfied sigh. Argivlo had made her draw all the different runes for the ceremony of bonding. She was happy to be learning so much from the Vampire Guardian, but drawing twohundred runes was not her idea of a good time.

Stretching her back like a cat, she stood and walked out of her room. She had been in Guardian Argivlo´s Mansion four months and her education was nearing an end. Before Argivlo she had spent three months with Guardian Mikko and another eight months with Maxoda Xele. Xele had been and still was a great friend and mentor. She had been the first Vampire to accept the child, only four years old at the time, as her student. Jenna smiled in memory. _I´ll have to go see her again soon.´_

Walking towards the garden, Jenna heard a small cry of distress. Curious she went in the direction of the sound.

She froze at the sight of a Vampire babygirl being tortured by a blackclad Rogue, easily recognisable by the lack of a rank necklace. _How did a Rogue get in here? I have to help the girl, but maybe there are more.´_ Thinking quickly, Jenna decided she would help the girl and then get the reinforcements. Cursing herself for leaving her wand in her room, she drew her dagger and pounced on the Rogue.

_He must have heard me_ Flashed through her mind when the vampire whirled around as she flew to him.

Slashing with all her might, Jenna tried to harm the tall creature. He grunted in surprise and toppled over in the face of Jenna´s desperate anger. Jenna used the distraction to grab the girl and run to the councilroom. It was illegal to come in without knocking, but Jenna was too worried about the possible invasion to think clearly.

She burst through the doors, interrupting a meeting.

°°What is the meaning of this, child?°° A dark voice boomed.

Oh god, he´s really angry´ Jenna thought. She bared her neck in submission and spoke in quick Vampiric Mot. °°I apologise profusely, Guardian Argivlo, but I just encountered a Rogue torturing this child of the Nightwalkers in the hallways of your Mansion. I fear there are more of them.°°

Argivlo shot up and started issuing orders. °°Merlon, your men take the west wing. Vardiga, east wing. Rolego, centre. You may kill, but take some alive. I want to know how and why they are here.°°

The Vampires spread out until only Jenna, the little girl, Argivlo and three others remained. Jenna felt the eyes return to her as she stood there, neck still bared. She tried not to fidget, but she was unsure what would happen. This was not something she had prepared for in her training.

°°Lightingchild.°° Argivlo called out. Looking up hestitantly, Jenna met his eyes. °°Yes Guardian?°°

°°That dramatic entrance really wasn´t necessary. I would have introduced you either way.°°

His tone was a bit teasing and Jenna blushed. °°These noble Nightwalkers are the King´s Adviser Maklor and the Head of the Guardian Council Salaro. This is High Prince Vladozan, future King of our race.°°

Color drained from Jenna´s face as she realized who she had interrupted. Luckily Xele, her first teacher had pounded the proper greetings for the different ranks into her head and she reacted automatically. Jenna slid to one knee and touched her neck. It was the most submissive position and it indicated that the other was free to take the blood of the subordinate. °°May your blood flow richly. May all your days be filled with power and wisdom, High Prince of the Noble Nightwalkers. Hail the High Prince Vladozan.°°

Removing her hand, but staying on her knee she greeted the other two. This way she did not give permission to take her blood but it still showed a great amount of respect and obedience.

°°May your blood flow richly. Combat and violence to the Head of the Guardian Council. Hail the Head of the Guardian Council Salaro.°°

°°May your blood flow richly. Cunning and loyalty to the King´s Adviser. Hail the wise King´s Adviser Maklor.°°

Jenna took a deep breath. That was a mouthful. She stayed on her knee waiting to see if her greeting was accepted. That was another important rule, if your greeting was accepted it meant that your superior accepted you. Then he would not harm you unless in punishment. If you were not accepted you would be thrown out or worse.

°°Greetings lightningchild. I have heard many things about you. Come a little closer.°°

She let out a sigh of relief. The High Prince himself had spoken to her. She stood up and walked to the High Prince. When she stood before him she realized she still had the babygirl in her arms. Blushing furiously she put the child in a chair nearby and looked up as he chuckled. The Prince was handsome. He had short dark brown hair and brown eyes. He was tall and shone with confidence and power.

The High Prince looked into Jenna´s eyes deeply and easily broke into her mind. She had completed her Occlumency shields last year, but for the Prince she opened her mind as far as she could.

Jenna let him watch everything. She bared her most inner thoughts and feelings about her Master and her storytellers. She showed deeprooted fear of her family and the still burning hope for a loving family of her own.

The High Prince was known to be a very intuitial creature. He sensed thing others could not and when he looked at the human girl he knew he had to make a decision. He knew that this girl was the key to peace between the magical races. If she strayed from her path the balance would never be. He had to make sure she would never pull away from the magical races and he knew how to tie her to them. Only that way could she fulfill her destiny.

Taking a big chance he pulled out of her mind and asked in a soft voice. °°You wish for a family. I can give you one. Are you willing to become one of us? My Childe?°°

°°I can´t.°° Jenna answered brokenly, ignoring the gasps of outrage from the others in the room, at her refusal of the high honour. °°You know..you´ve seen I can´t leave the Werewolves, the Centaurs, my Master.°° She whispered the last one. Master would surely leave her if she was Turned.

To her surprise the High Prince laughed. °°Yes I expected that. Instead I wish for you to carry my mark. You will be one of us in the eyes of our community, yet you will not have to leave your other family´s.°°

Eyes full of wonder and awe, Jenna nodded. °°I would be honoured, High Prince.°°

Satisfied the High Prince spoke officially. °°Bare your shoulder to your Sire.°°

Baring her left shoulder Jenna waited with baited breath. She tensed slightly when the High Prince called upon his magic. Vampiric magic was different from wizarding magic. They didn´t need a wand, they called upon the magic inside and told it what to do. That made it more personal but also more violate and dangerous. A perfect match for the race of the Nightwalkers.

The Prince sent out a burst of magic into Jenna´s shoulder and watched as a grey snake, the symbol of the Nightwalkers, appeared. Not wasting any time he held Jenna in a firm grip and bit down slightly below the tattoo. Jenna didn´t struggle, instead letting herself go limp in the powerful man´s arms. Jenna felt her blood being sucked away and to avoid panic she forced her thoughts to what she was gaining. A Sire was the one who created a new Vampire, the Childe. The Childer literally owed their existence to their Sire and held them in high regard. No good Childe would ever cross or deny their Sire, and in turn the Sire would protect and cherish their creation. To be chosen by the High Prince gave Jenna a very high standing in society and a strong person to belong to and to trust. The hole in her heart where her family used to be, filled a little with this connection.

The Prince retreated his fangs and looked at her. Nicking his own wrist on his fangs he held the bloody limb against the girl´s mouth. °°Drink Childe°°

Jenna never broke the gaze as she started sucking on the small wound. After two mouthfulls the Prince pulled his wrist back slightly. °°Lick the wound closed Childe°°. In a trance Jenna´s tongue shot out to lick. Her salvia wasn´t as effective in healing as the Vampire´s, but it still slowed the bloodflow.

The Prince licked the wound himself as well, tasting his Childe´s salvia. He smiled at her reverent and loving gaze. °°Well done Childe.°°

°°Sire..I..I thank you. I…thank you, High Prince.°°

He smiled again, looking in pride at his only Childe. °°You are most welcome, my lightingChilde.°°

END FLASHBACK

°°Yes I bear the High Prince´s mark. My Sire´s mark. And I wear it with pride.°°

The Guardian nodded approvingly. °°And so you should. Goodnight Childe of the Prince.°°

He bared his neck in respect, before disappearing with the others in the shadows. Jenna could sense them still surrounding her camp. She knew they were now there for her protection. Vampires looked out for their own. Shaking her head in amusement she went back to roasting the rabbit she had caught. Sometimes Vampires were a really overprotective bunch!

END CHAPTER FOUR


	6. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I own nothing

CHAPTER FIVE

thoughts´

"talking English"

°°Vampire language, also called Vampiric Mot°°

House-elf language, also called Gaëla

LAST CHAPTER

°°Yes I bear the High Prince´s mark. My Sire´s mark. And I wear it with pride.°°

The Guardian nodded approvingly. °°And so you should. Goodnight Childe of the Prince.°°

He bared his neck in respect, before disappearing with the others in the shadows. Jenna could sense them still surrounding her camp. She knew they were now there for her protection. Vampires looked out for their own. Shaking her head in amusement she went back to roasting the rabbit she had caught. Sometimes Vampires were a really overprotective bunch!

The night passed quickly and Jenna was just waking up when she heard footsteps nearing. Easily recognising the pace of her Master, she wiped the sleep out of her eyes and straightened her clothes.

She looked up just in time to see Master get surrounded by the Vampires from yesterday.

°°May your blood flow richly, Guardian Nightwalker. I see you´ve met my Master.°°

The Guardian raised an eyebrow. °°And may your blood flow richly as well, lightningchild. I had heard you became an Apprentice when your sixth summer had started. I assume this to be him then?°°

Jenna nodded. °°Yes, he is. Could you please let him go?°°

°°As you wish lightningchild. We shall leave you, now that your Master has arrived and you no longer need our protection. Rise with the Moon.°°

°°I thank you. Rise with the Moon.°° Jenna answered the goodbye frase.

At once the dark shapes disappeared, leaving only her darkhaired Master. He raised an eyebrow in question. "I see you arranged some company?"

"Yes Master. I hope you don´t mind." She grinned back as Master just grumbled and led her out of the forest.

The rest of the weekend consisted of reading Animagus books and practicing hand-to-hand combat. Jenna worked diligently and happily. Her good mood disappeared when the time came to portkey back to the Potter Castle.

She gripped the portkeybook and glanced one more time at Master. "Goodbye Master. See you in two weeks." The familiar feeling hooked just behind her belly and pulled her back to her dark room. Immediately a House elf appeared. Jenna smiled. When nobody else was around her elf friends talked to her in their own language called Gaëla, which sounded like a series of surprised squeaks.

It had taken a while for Jenna to learn the language but she had persisted. When Jenna could finally speak it fluently the Potter Elves had held a naming ceremony. Normally this ceremony was performed on a newborn elfling, but for Jenna it meant her welcome as a true part of their world. They used their magic to permanently spell a brightly coloured pentagram on Jenna´s left hand to show her House elf status.

The Potter Elves proudly announced that any House elf would now know she was their elfling´ called Ilka. At Jenna´s confusion, Tinky reveiled one of the best kept secrets of the House elf culture. House elves had long ago perfected the art of aura reading and could read the true names of any wizard or witch from their aura in seconds. When the Potter elves had officially named Jenna they imprinted the new name into her aura next to her birthname.

Good evening Ilka. What can Tinky get for yous?

Hey Tinky. I haven´t had dinner yet, so could yous get me some of that?

The elf beamed. For some reason the elves always were ecstatic when they could feed their elfling´. Jenna just smiled and let it go. If it made them happy, who was she to go against them?

Four minutes later Tinky was back with a feast for at least five people. Three pops´ later Jenna was surrounded by happy House elves. When she came back from Master or from a trainingperiod, these four Elves always came to her room to listen to her accomplishments. Jenna enjoyed telling them, simply because they were the only ones that were interested.

Hey Dobby, Frazzel, Mipsy. Master decided to test me this weekend….Jenna babbled the entire evening, until the House elves practically forced her to eat. She hadn´t had time for that during her story.

She fell asleep content that night, knowing that tomorrow her ticket out of Potter Castle would arrive.

The next morning Jenna was awoken by a ticking against the window. A high squeaky voice exclaimed something that had Jenna wide awake at once. Look Ilka! Yous Hogwarts letter is here.

Jenna sprinted to the window and let the brown barn owl in. With trembling hands Jenna untied the precious letter attached to the owl. Taking a deep breath she read what was written in green ink.

Miss Jenaya Potter

Black Bedroom

East Tower

Potter Castle

Grinning Jenna broke the wax seal and scanned the letter. _Dear miss Potter, blahblah pleased to finally accept…blahblah…witchcraft and wizardry…will be sorted with the firstyears…blah _

blahblah….await your owl. Sincerely Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress.´

Bouncing happily Jenna threw her arms around the small elf. Look Mipsy! Look! They´ve accepted me! I can go to Hogwarts. With a happy sigh she fell back on her bed, arms still around the elf. Mipsy, who was used to the eccentrics of her elfling´ let herself be pulled to the bed and smiled. Congratulations. We knew yous would succeed, Ilka. Now goes downstairs and have breakfast. Yous need to ask Master and Mistress Potter about yous shopping before they leave without yous.

Jenna sighed. Yes, I suppose I better should. I just really really don´t want to see Galen today. He´s bound to be horrible, it is his birthday too today and he´ll receive his Hogwarts letter as well.

Mipsy put her little hands on her hips and said sternly. Yous will go downstairs and ignore the little Master. This is your day, Ilka.

Grinning Jenna nodded. You´re absolutely right, Mipsy. I don´t know what I would do without yous. She raced to the bathroom and showered and dressed in recordtime. Spending ten minutes taming her hair and putting on her usual glamours to hide her tattoo´s (1) , Jenna nodded satisfied. Master had pounded it into her head to always look presentable when she was in public. No Apprentice of his would look like an urchin, even if nobody knew she was his Apprentice.

She wore her long leather jacket, with a wide flowing red skirt and a tight black top underneath. Her trademark black fingerless gloves on, she looked around in irritation searching for her boots. She always wore her black dragonleather boots, a graduation´ present from Guardian Argivlo, but that also meant she always lost track of where she had last taken them off. Finally she pulled her wand and said clearly "Accio Jenna´s boots"

The boots obediently flew into Jenna´s hands and she put them on. Looking in the mirror she scrunched her face up in thought. There was something missing.

Jenna looked over her room, trying to spot what she needed. Her eye fell on the sendbox and she frowned. There was something there and it was calling to her. Heart beating quickly, Jenna opened the box and gasped at what she saw.

In the box lay a silvery necklace with a pendant in the form of a fallen angel. It´s wings were broken, but still the angel radiated beauty and hope. Shaking slightly Jenna read the note written in Master´s elegant scrawl.

Apprentice

Happy Birthday. Never take this pendant off for I have charmed it as a portkey. Just say Take my to safety´ and you will appear in my Manor. Nobody will able to take it from you, it will only come off if you take it off yourself willingly. Do not worry about your Were-friends. It is not made out of normal silver and will not harm them.

You may take today off, but tomorrow you will return to your studies. I won´t have you slacking.

Master

Tinky? Jenna asked with a shaky voice.

A small pop anounced Tinky´s arrival. What can Tinky do for Ilka? Then she spotted the necklace and she cried out. Oh Ilka, Master gives yous that? Oh what a Great Wonderful Wise Generous Master. She was still praising Jenna´s Master when she noticed the tears running down Jenna´s cheeks. She cocked her head to the side confused. Does Ilka not like it? Does yous not wish to wear a broken angel?

NO! No I like it very much….I just…I didn´t. I didn´t expect Master to give me something like this. It´s so beautiful. Jenna laughed and sobbed at the same time. It became a very strange sound but she didn´t care. Will yous put it on me, Tinky?

Tinky nodded seriously and fastened the necklace around Jenna´s neck. The angel hung beautifully in the hollow of her neck. Jenna let her fingertips run over the pendant reverently. This was the first gift she had ever received from Master that wasn´t for practical means.

Letting out a small giggle, sounding still slightly choked with tears, she turned to Tinky. It fits

Yes Ilka Tinky sighed, looking at the broken wings sadly. Her thoughts turned to the many times she had fixed up the elfling´ after the little Master had decided to have fun and to the nights the girl couldn´t sleep for fear of waking up to Master James screaming at her. It fits yous very well. Forcing her face into a happy mask she continued. And now yous is going to eat breakfast. Shoo!

Jenna giggled again and bounded down the stairs of the tower. Before the big doors of the diningroom she took a deep breath and settled her face into a reasonably neutral mask, squashing the familiar feeling of panic as she neared her family. She had taken lessons from Master, but she wasn´t able to hide all her emotions. She simply was too dependant on her emotions to do that.

Walking in quietly, Jenna settled at the table not looking at her parents. James and Lily didn´t react to their daughter´s presence as they were busy cooing over Galen. The boy in question only had interest for the big pile of presents in the room.

"Goodmorning sir, ma´am." Jenna said. As usual Lily ignored her. James looked at her and scowled. "Have you forgotten what day it is today? It is Galen´s birthday. Aren´t you even going to wish him a happy birthday? No of course not. I doubt you even have a present for him."

He shook his head in disgust and turned his attention back to his beloved wife and son, intent on ignoring his other child. Galen smirked and turned to his mother. He was about to speak when a tawny owl swooped through the window and dropped a letter on his lap. Shredding the envelop he pulled out a thick wad of parchment. "Look mom! Look, a letter from Grampa Albus. He wrote my acceptance letter for Hogwarts himself and oooooh look all the teachers wrote something for me as well." He winked at Jamed "Well, apart from Snivellus of course."

James laughed and ruffled his son´s hair. "So the teachers each gave you a welcome to Hogwarts letter? That´s good. If they like you now, they will love you when you get there. Think of all the pranks you can pull!"

Huffing Galen sat down the letters. "Of course they sent me letters. They´re ECSTATIC about having me there. Of course who wouldn´t be jumping to have me in their school?" He added smugly.

Looking over the list of books and equipment he said in his best commanding voice. "We´re going to Diagon Alley today. After opening my presents I mean. I want to get my schoolstuff and buy some new robes. I can´t go to Hogwarts looking like a ruffian. Unlike my sister I have a sense of pride for the Potter name."

At once three sets of eyes glared at the blackclad girl. In a disgusted tone Galen continued. "Of course we can´t take _that_ with us. What would people say if they saw I was in the company of someone like _her_!"

Lily nodded absently, still staring at her perfect son. "Of course not. She´ll just stay at home."

Clearing her throat Jenna said quietly. "But I received my letter as well. I need supplies. Can I please come with you? I won´t be in your way."

James bristled. "How could you have received your letter before Galen? That´s ridiculous. I´ll make yo.." He was cut off in his rant when Lily sighed. "She wás born a few minutes earlier James. It just shows that first isn´t always best. Albus wants her to go to Hogwarts this year with Galen though. I suppose we need supplies for her as well."

"NOOOO, I don´t want her to come shopping with us!" Galen fumed. He would not let his birthday be ruined by that little bitch.

"We´ll still leave her here, baby boy. We can buy her stuff ourselves and she can use my dad´s old wand. I was planning to throw it out, but this is easier." James shushed his son.

"But she´ll destroy my presents!"

"No she won´t." James glared threateningly at his daughter, slightly appeased when she shrank back in her chair. "She´ll just spend another birthday in her special room."

At that Jenna´s head shot up, her eyes wide and terrified. He was gonna lock her up in the cupboard again! And she had been doing so well at avoiding that lately.

Years ago, after one of Jenna´s more daring stunts for attention, James had had enough. He had drug his daughter to the cupboard under the stairs and thrown her in, determined to have some peace. He left her there the entire day with a silencing charm on the door and forbade the House elves to bring her food or water. That night when he came for her, Jenna was quiet and complacent. She stayed that way for almost two months and James was delighted. When she acted up after that it was back to the cupboard every time. Over the years he never noticed the pranks he punished his troublesome daughter for, turned out to be Galen´s fault more often than not. He was just happy the one black spot in his perfect family was out of his way.

Jenna hated the cupboard with a passion. That first day locked in had been very scary, as she had been only three years old. But after a while it became easier to spend the day there. She pretended she was in a different place. That she was like the princess in her books or that she was a brave knight who slayed a monster. She began to enjoy the time to daydream without the fear of her parents or Galen barging in. But one day it was different. This time there really was a monster but she could not slay it. The whole day she spent trying to get out, screaming and pleading for help as the boggart she was locked in with, showed her her worst fears. That night she came out of the small space as a sobbing mess. James sneered and shouted when he dragged her up to her room and for the first time Jenna truly felt terror at her father´s behavior, the images of the boggart still playing in her mind.

From that day on, Jenna did anything she could to avoid this punishment. She had developed a deep fear for small spaces and being locked in. But James didn´t stop. If anything he found more and more reasons to keep her out of sight. The House elves noticed their favorite human´s anguish and took to visiting during these days. They never spoke of it, but it helped Jenna cope with her fear. She knew that only this constant companionship had kept her sane. She shuddered at the thought of being locked away alone.

"All right James." Lily nodded. Then in an abrupt change of subject she brightened. "Now it´s present time!"

Knowing nothing would change her parents minds, Jenna closed her eyes tightly. She wouldn´t let them know how much it affected her. She watched in a daze as Galen opened present after present. All that time a horrible anticipation was building up in Jenna´s body. Anticipation to what would happen as soon as breakfast was over.

And then it was time. Jenna kept her eyes on the floor, unwilling to even look at the man she had once called father. "Come with me, girl."

His voice was cold and threatening and Jenna scrambled to obey. She trembled as they neared the small space under the stairs. The sight instilled such fear she was unable to stop herself from begging. "Please sir. I´ll be good. You won´t even notice me. Please sir, don´t lock me in."

James sneered. "You unbelievable coward. You can´t even handle a few hours in the dark. Why aren´t you more like your brother." He grabbed her hair and flung her into the small space.

The door fell into the lock behind her. "If you make a noise I will leave you in there ´til Christmas."

Unaware of the silencing spell on the door, Jenna chocked on a sob, stuffing her fist in her mouth to keep quiet. She knew James would really keep her in there much longer if he heard her crying. Closing her eyes Jenna focused on her breathing. _In..out…In…out Oh Merlin..In.. out…out Iwant out…In.. out. Master help me please..why won´t anyone help me? Why do they do this…In ..OUt OUT OUT I WANT OUT!"_

A soft pop had her tensing up, before she realized it was one of the House-elves. Mipsy.. I´m scared. Can´t breathe.. locked me in…Help me!

Sweet little Ilka, oh no. Mipsy will get the others quickly. Mipsy cried out.

Several pop´s announced the presence of many House-elves. They were such small creatures they didn´t crowd the already cramped space. Tinky took on her role of Head House-Elf and ordered the others. Frazzel, get Tinky some blankets and sleepingpotion. Dobby and Zacky must look and warn if Master Potter comes back. Mipsy can help Tinky calm Ilka. All the others must not make Master Potter suspicious and do their work.

The Elves nodded and did as ordered. Tinky and Mipsy sent little bursts of energy into the shivering body and built a bed with the blankets. Jenna moaned in fear as her mind started to play tricks on her.

Shh, Ilka. Tinky and Mipsy is taking care of yous. Sleep Ilka.

Mipsy started singing a lullaby. Singing always calmed the little one down, because there were no bad connections to singing.

Lulled to sleep by the soft singing and the potion, Jenna sank into blissful black.

Mipsy stroked the girl´s feverish head softly. Happy birthday, my Ilka. Big tears fell from the huge blue eyes. Happy birthday, my elfling

END CHAPTER FIVE

NB. (1) I said Jenna used glamours to hide her tattoo´s. One of them is the mark from the Vampire Prince, one other is the pentagram of the House elves. The other marks will be explained in a few chapters. The Apprentice bracelets are automatically under a glamour, because they were given by magic herself.


	7. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I own nothing except Jenaya Potter

CHAPTER SIX

_thoughts´_

"talking English"

°°Vampire language, also called Vampiric Mot°°

House-elf language, also called Gaëla

_LAST CHAPTER_

_Shh, Ilka. Tinky and Mipsy is taking care of yous. Sleep Ilka. _

_Mipsy started singing a lullaby. Singing always calmed the little one down, because there were no bad connections to singing._

_Lulled to sleep by the soft singing and the potion, Jenna sank into blissful black. _

_Mipsy stroked the girl´s feverish head softly. Happy birthday, my Ilka. Big tears fell from the huge blue eyes. Happy birthday, my elfling_

Silently Jenna followed the Potters to the Hogwarts Express. It was finally September the first and today she would leave. Ever since that horrible birthday, she had kept out of their way. The Potters had forgotten about her and left her in the cupboard for four days. It was only because of the House-elves that she hadn´t completely lost it in there. Master had noticed something was wrong, but had not pushed. He knew she would talk to him if she needed it.

Jenna noticed many people, both Muggle and Wizard, looking at their little group. Not that it was very surprising. James and Galen were dressed in their finest darkblue robes and were talking and laughing loudly. Lily watched them with a soft smile and walked behind them with their trunks on the luggage cart. Dressed in a flowing deepred robe she made a fetching figure.

Jenna herself was in her open, black robes. She wore a tight leather pants and a silver, sleeveless top. Her hair now reached down to her calves, braided loosely. It was still dark red, unlike Lily´s vibrant red, but Jenna´s black streaks were even more pronounced. A small silver earring decorated her left ear and the silver angel hung from her neck. Naturally she wore her black boots and black fingerless gloves to finish her ensemble. She looked dangerous and she loved it.

Stumbling through the barrier with her heavy trunk, Jenna made her way to the old fashined train. Unlike Galen, she had to carry her luggage herself and she couldn´t use a featherlight charm to make it easier. She wasn´t supposed to know that kind of spells yet, as they were of NEWT level and she didn´t want to attract attention to herself. Master told her to lay low with her knowledge.

Unnoticed by the others she slipped away to find a compartment for herself. She didn´t want to end up with Galen. Jenna smiled, a quick peak around the corner told her she had found one.

Hoisting her trunk into the baggage rack was more difficult. "Honestly. Why would they want to put the racks so high? It´s stupid." She muttered to herself.

Just as she was about to grab her wand, to hell with anyone who might see her, the trunk was taken from her grasp. Jenna looked up startled and met the bluest eyes she had ever seen.

"Do you need a…."

"hand, beautiful…"

"lady?"

Jenna jumped at the voice from behind her and once again met a pair of happy blue eyes. Looking from one boy to the other she said shyly. "Ehh, yes please."

The boys smiled identical smiles and they easily lifted the heavy thing. "Would you…"

"mind if we…."

"join you in…"

"this compartment?"

Jenna smiled. For some reason she wasn´t really nervous with these two. They made her feel comfortable. "No of course not. Sit down. Just please stop talking that way, it´s giving me a headache."

The first boy gave an exaggerated bow. "As you wish milady. We will obey your every word." He sat down and regarded the amused girl with a smile. "May I introduce my brother George Weasley and myself Fred Weasley. Better known as Gred and Forge, the terror twins."

George sat down as well and held out his hand. Jenna took it without hestitation. "Very nice to meet you both. I´m Jenna."

Fred grabbed her left hand to shake, so Jenna ended up with crossed arms, shaking two hands at the same time. She giggled. "You two are a bit strange."

George grabbed at his chest. "I´m wounded. Are we strange Gred?" He asked in a mockhurt voice.

"No Forge, how could WE be strange?"

Jenna couldn´t keep it in anymore. A small part of her was surprised at herself. She normally wasn´t this outgoing with strangers. "No, how could I ever think you were strange. You are the embodiment of normal. Boring really."

Fred looked outraged. "BORING?"

Keeping a sympathetic face on, Jenna nodded. "Yes, I must say you are one of the most boring people I´ve ever met. I heard something about a Professor Binns. He must have been taking lessons from you."

George roared in laughter at Fred´s shocked face. "You shut him up. Girl, I think I´m in love with you."

With a grin Jenna patted his leg. "I know I´m irrisistable. But I´m afraid you don´t stand a chance with the amount of competition. I´m sure you´ll get over it in time."

Now it was George who looked stumped. Jenna gave him a small smile and turned to look out of the window.

Fred looked from the girl to his brother. It didn´t happen often that someone could make them speechless. The twins grinned. This girl fit right in with them.

"So Miss Jenna, this will be your first year at Hogwarts, I presume?" George asked.

Jenna nodded. "Yeah, me and my brother will be joining as fourthyear students. We were homeschooled until now."

George looked delighted. "We as older and wiser students shall have to give you some tips on how to survive Hogwarts.´"

Jenna raised an eyebrow sceptically. "All right. I´m listening."

The twins grinned. "First there is the sorting. Do you think we should tell her, Gred?" "I don´t know, Forge. She might become scared and decide to go home."

Jenna snorted. "Don´t worry. Even if the sorting is as horrible as you portray I will stay as far away from Potter Castle as I can."

"Potter Castle?" Fred asked confused. "Why do you live at Potter Castle?"

Mentally cursing herself for her slip, Jenna averted her eyes. "Because my name is Jenna Potter. And yes I am Galen´s twin. We just don´t get along like you two."

It seemed the twins noticed her sudden depression and changed the subject to the sorting. Their outragous stories about fighting a troll cheered Jenna up and soon her sadness was forgotten.

The rest of the ride towards Hogwarts the twins told her about the pranks they had played on the students and teachers of the wizarding school. Jenna howled with laughter at the thought of Albus Dumbledore in a pink lace dress, doing the cancan. She didn´t really like the old man, he was a big reason Galen had turned out like he had. Dumbledore had put Galen on the pedestral and he was just to blind to see what he had done.

"H-how did you do that?" She hiccuped between her laughter. Fred grinned. "We have some friends in the kitchens."

Interested Jenna sat up. "The House-elves you mean? You know how to get into the kitchen? Can you take me, I really want to meet the Hogwarts elves."

"And why, miss, would you wish to visit the Hogwarts elves? Not for pranks I hope. We do not condone of pranking, as you know." George said sternly.

Instead of blushing and ducking her head as she normally would have done, Jenna set her most angelic expression. "Oh no, sir. I would never prank anyone. You know that don´t you? I am innocence personified, just like you." All three children burst out in laughter.

As soon as she had calmed down Jenna explained. "I don´t really prank a lot, but the House-elves at Potter Castle were like family. I would like to make these my friends as well."

"Good reasoning. I knew there were some braincells left in that tiny head of yours." George winked.

Jenna scowled. "You´re one to talk."

"WE WILL BE ARRIVING AT HOGWARTS IN FIVE MINUTES. PLEASE PUT ON YOUR UNIFORMS. ONCE THE TRAIN STOPS, DEPOSIT YOUR LUGGAGE IN THE DESIGNATED AREA´S." A voice boomed through the compartment. Jenna gave a quick smile. "And now leave, I´m not gonna change with you guys looking at me."

Fred grinned. "Are you sure? We wouldn´t mind you know."

"OUT!"

Laughing the two boys ran out of the compartment. Once the door was locked George turned to his brother only halfjoking when he said. "Well bro, I think I´m in love." Fred nodded. "I know what you mean."

Inside the compartment, Jenna pulled out the wand Master had bought for her. She stroked it lovingly before using it to unlock her trunk. She had no intention of using her Grandfather´s old wand at Hogwarts. It wouldn´t work for her, she was simply too different from him. She figured there was no danger in using her own as only Master knew she even had this wand. Galen couldn´t sell her out either, because he didn´t know what Grampa´s wand looked like.

Two minutes later she popper her head around the corner to talk to the redheads. "Hey, I need to get my trunk down. Can you help me lift it? I don´t want to end up a flat pancake because I dropped it."

"But of course, dear lady. Your knights in shining armour are here." George cried out.

Jenna rolled her eyes at the reply and smirked. "Yes, yes. Now get on with it then, my servants."

The twins easily lifted the heavy trunk and set it on the ground. As one they turned to Jenna. "And what will we now receive as a reward, dear lady?" Fred asked mock-seriously. He was curious as to what the girl would say. In the beginning she was very shy, but he and his brother had been able to pull her out of her shell fairly easy. He was happy to see her relaxing that much in their presence.

The fourthyear sniffed haughtily. "You have earned the right to escort me out of the train and the right to carry my trunk to the Castle of Hogwarts."

George grinned and said sarcastically. "Why thank you. That is more than we could have hoped for."

Jenna smiled smugly. "Yes, it is rather generous of me, isn´t it? Ah, well I´ve always been a bit soft on those less fortunate than me." She turned and walked out of the train, nose held high. Glancing back at the amused boys she said. "Well, what are you waiting for. Follow me. Chop chop."

Grinnning broadly the two redheads walked to the door and carried the luggage outside to the place where the House-elves would pick it up. Jenna stood outside waiting for them with a big smile. "Thanks a lot, guys. I really had trouble carrying that horrid thing."

Fred smiled. "No problem, Jen. Now I believe I heard Hagrid´s delicate voice roaring for the firstyears to follow him. I guess you should go with them. He´s the big guy over there."

"Yeah, the newbies take the trip over the lake. We ride in the carriages to the Castle, but we´ll see you there. Good luck at the sorting. I hope you´re in Gryffindor with us!" George gave her a small nudge towards the big man called Hagrid and, winking cheekily, turned to go to the carriages.

Jenna took a deep breath and walked to the crowd of nervous firstyears. She didn´t stand out too much, because of her small frame. Her brother was a different story. He was slightly chubby and reached a fair 59. His wild mop of brown hair was easy to recognise in the mass of elevenyear olds. Jenna shook her head at the dozens of kids trying to get close their hero. Galen just grinned arrogantly, he loved the attention. Everywhere Jenna could hear excited whispers about ´The Boy Who Lived´. Snorting in disgust she stepped into a boat.

Hagrid sat alone in the first boat. "E´ryone ´board? Grea´. Ehh righ´ FORWAR´!"

The boats glided over the lake silently, giving the occupants plenty of time to look around. Jenna sucked in a breath when Hogwarts finally came in view. The House elves had shared with her how to see magic and aura´s. Her trained eyes saw layer upon layer of magic wards surrounding the school, it was a beautiful sight. The building itself shone with magic. It was obviously a sentient building.

Gently Jenna sent out a strand of her magic in greeting. Immediately a small push of magic hit her shields, but it couldn´t go through them. Apparantly unhappy with being kept out, the magic tried again, pushing more forcefully. Feeling no ill intent, Jenna lowered her shields to a minimum and was suddenly cocooned in a warm feeling. It was Hogwarts showing her affection and her elation at being able to communicate to a student. Jenna got the feeling not many people tried to talk to her, and even less succeeded.

A soft smile graced Jenna´s lips when she walked into the building. She didn´t listen to the whispering of the others or the small quarrels that had already started. Jenna was basking in the feeling of love and belonging. Hogwarts already felt more like a home than Potter Castle ever had.

The young girl was pulled out of her thoughts by the voice of an anxious firstyear. "Two older students told me we had to fight a troll for the sorting! I´m sure you can do it, Mr Potter, but I´m not as good as you." Jenna snorted softly. The boy had obviously met Gred and Forge and had fallen for their story. And of course this dumb kid was starreyed at the thought of meeting the great Galen Potter. _Galen must be in his element´_

Sure enough Galen bragged. "Don´t worry kid. If he attacks you too harshly I will save you. With me around you won´t be in much danger. I defeated You-Know-Who after all."

Mentally Jenna rolled her eyes at the grateful blubbering of the child. If there was danger, Galen would leave the child and run as fast as he could. He was only brave when he knew he would be victorious. That was why he always took his friends with him when he went Jenna Hunting´.

Jenna shivered and pushed her fear away. It was time to enter the Great Hall.

As the big oak doors opened Jenna looked upon the Great Hall for the second time in her life. She immediately noticed the differences. Unlike at the party, there were now four long tables for the students. A big table at the far end was for the teachers.

Jenna´s eyes slid over to the darkhaired Potions Master and she smiled slightly. He was scowling fiercely, especially at Galen and the Gryffindor´s. She was glad he had said he wouldn´t mind it terribly if she became one of the lions, even if he had to treat her unfairly then.

All the firstyears shuffled to a little stool with a ragged hat upon it. Jenna trailed behind and stared at the old piece of cloth. She suspected this had something to do with the sorting. _A troll indeed. Nice thought Forge´_ She commented mentally when the hat sang his song.

Jenna let her eyes wonder over the Hall absently. She wasn´t really interested in watching the sortings, but the Headmaster had decided she and Galen would be sorted after the last firstyears.

The Headmaster called for attention when "Zoak, Riannon" had been made a Hufflepuff. "Dear students. As you can you we still have two sortings today. These two students have been homeschooled and will enter in fourth year." The old blue eyes twinkled with pride and joy as he said. "Will Galen Potter please put on the sorting hat?"

Whispers broke all over the Hall as Galen swaggered up to the hat and placed it on his head.

"_The Galen Potter? The real one?"_

"_..Oh he´s so handsome! Did you see his scar?"_

"_Do you think he will like me?"_

"_I´m gonna try to be his friend."_

"…_.has a girlfriend?"_

No more than 5 seconds later it shouted "GRYFFINDOR".

_No big surprise there. Galen isn´t cunning, smart or loyal. Look at how he treated me, he would disgrace the house of Hufflepuff. I am surprised he is deemed brave enough for the Lions though.´_ Jenna scoffed.

Then her call came "Potter, Jenaya". Again a barrage of whispers broke out.

"Potter? Is she family?" 

"_I thought Galen didn´t have a sister. Maybe it is a cousin or something?"_

"…_..Surely not.."_

"_Maybe she´s a Muggleborn. I heard Potter is a very common name there."_

"_..Family…"_

"_Boy who lived.."_

Jenna growled and crammed the hat on her head. She hated being talked about. A quiet voice sang through her head.

**Jenaya Eleanora Potter, I have been looking forward to meeting you. Yes…..a great deal of potential..and I see you have had extensive training. Master trained you perfectly, but don´t forget you are your own person as well. Don´t live your life just to please him….**

**Now let´s see…OH, I see you met My Lady Hogwarts. Yes she is very pleased with you, the first in two centuries to talk to her…I think the Castle will do anything to make your life here pleasurable.**

**And what is this…My, my you do have friends everywhere don´t you?**´

Jenna sighed softly and answered in her mind.

_Everywhere except for with my own race. Galen scares everyone away from me.´_

**Yes…that brother of yours´ **Jenna could practically feel the dislike the Hat had for her twin.** A look in his mind was very insightful indeed. But on to the sorting….Ravenclaw would not suit you, you search for knowledge but prefer the practical…And poor Hufflepuff wouldn´t know what to do with your dark secrets…Your Master would prefer Slytherin, and you have the making of a good snake but you would not be happy there. No…you will not go there…. Don´t be afraid to trust. Those two you met on the train will be good friends if you let them. You will thrive in**´

"GRYFFINDOR"

END CHAPTER SIX


	8. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I own nothing

CHAPTER SEVEN

_thoughts´_

"talking English"

°°Vampire language, also called Vampiric Mot°°

House-elf language, also called Gaëla

# Language of the Werewolves, also called Grawl #

_LAST CHAPTER_

_**Yes…that brother of yours´ **Jenna could practically feel the dislike the Hat had for her twin.** A look in his mind was very insightful indeed. But on to the sorting….Ravenclaw would not suit you, you search for knowledge but prefer the practical…And poor Hufflepuff wouldn´t know what to do with your dark secrets…Your Master would prefer Slytherin, and you have the making of a good snake but you would not be happy there. No…you will not go there…. Don´t be afraid to trust. Those two you met on the train will be good friends if you let them. You will thrive in**´_

"_GRYFFINDOR"_

Carefully Jenna took off the Hat and walked to the cheering table. She noticed that her brother didn´t look very pleased and didn´t join in the celebration. Following his example some other Gryffindors shot her nasty looks. Jenna sighed. It had already started. Galen´s big mouth and attitude would make sure nobody wanted to befriend her by morning.

Sitting down quietly at the table, a hand on her shoulder made her look up. "Welcome to Gryffindor House, beautiful lady." Fred grinned.

The two redheads flopped down on the bench on either side of her. "We are the welcoming commitee. We are elated that you once again grace us with your presence and we decided to present you with a proper welcoming gift." George´s eyes were full of mischief.

Jenna looked at them suspiciously. "Should I be scared?"

George grinned "Nope. No sirree. Nothing to be scared off here, only a very innocent present."

Looking at the hopeful eyes, Jenna resigned herself to being pranked and took the brightcoloured box. "Ah well, might as well start my Hogwarts career with a bang. I will kill you if it is too embarrassing though." She shot them a glare.

The moment she opened the box a brightly coloured mist came out. It formed words in the air, high above the Gryff´s table. "WELCOME TO HOGWARTS, ICKLE FIRSTIES. GRYFFINDOR RULES!"

In the back of her mind Jenna noticed the whole school watching as the mist transformed into a magnificent lion. It roared and then charged at the Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin tables. The students screamed and ducked. One firstyear actually fell out of his chair, but nobody noticed it in the chaos.

The Lion returned to the Gryffindor table without doing any actual damage and seemed to laugh at the disorder. He turned back into a coloured mist and pounced back into the box, still in Jenna´s hands. Dazedly she realized she had felt a tingle of magic go through her before the mist disappeared and when she heard students snickering around her she sighed. Looking at the surpressed mirth in the twin´s eyes she said. "Alright. What did it do to me?"

The laughter grew in the Hall as all eyes turned to her. Fred handed her a handmirror to see what the spell had done. Looking at the lion´s ears that now sprouted from her head, the cat´s eyes and the whiskers, Jenna started sniggering quietly. She looked ridiculous. Jenna couldn´t keep it down for long and within minutes she was howling with laughter. "T-that w-was incr-redible." She took a deep breath to calm down and glanced into the mirror again. Sparkling cat´s eyes turned to the two redheads. "I like it. I think I´ll keep it this way for a while, but you two can´t keep walking around like that then. I mean you look way too boring to be in my company. Don´t worry, I´ll help you."

She grinned evilly and before they realized it, Jenna had her wand out. A simple spell turned their ears into rabbit´s ears and they too gained whiskers. It was such a basic spell nobody would suspect anything.

The Hall exploded with applause and laughter. Even some Slytherins had small smiles on their faces, seeing that the two pranksters were beaten at their own game. Fred and George laughed with them and climbed upon the table to take a bow. Fred held out his hand to Jenna with a gentle smile. "You deserve the applause as well, my beautiful lady."

Jenna blushed and took the hand. She was pulled on the table quickly and together the two rabbitboys and the liongirl bowed. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Master glaring at her, but experience told her that the man was fighting a smile. She breathed out in relief. Master approved of her friends, or at least he didn´t veto them right out.

They sat down when the Headmaster held up his hands. The old wizard was beaming. "After that spectacular piece of magic, I would like to make some start of the year announcements. I am sorry to say Professor Quirrel will not be returning this year.." He held up his hand to stop the storm of cheers his news had brought. "…so I would like to welcome Professor Grahm as our new DADA teacher." A short, stocky man walked to the teachers table under the polite applause.

Jenna´s eyes shot to the man, startled. Grahm? Michael Grahm? The Michael Grahm that had taught her the ways of the Were´s? She met his eyes briefly and recognised the man immediately. She nodded reverently as her mind flashed to the day he had proclaimed her an official part of the Werewolf pack.

FLASHBACK

#Good. Now bare your teeth. That´s right…Lower your shoulder a bit, you don´t want him to think you challenge him….Better….Yes that´s it. Alright take a break.# Jenna sank to the ground gratefully. Alpha Werewolf Grahm was teaching her how to curtesy to an Alpha.

It was difficult to learn for a non-were, because they totally lacked natural instinct. For them instinct had to be developped by training and practice. So Jenna was now for the hundreth time trying to show enough teeth, but not seem challenging. At the same time she had to show her strength and worth, otherwise she would loose her rank in the structure. It was a very delicate balance.

#This is hard, Alpha.#

Grahm looked at her sympathetically. #I know, cub. But you asked for this. You´re not gonna learn this if you don´t put everything you´ve got in it.#

Jenna sighed. #I know, Alpha. I´m very grateful for the chance to learn this and I really am trying very hard.#

Handing her a wet towel to freshen up a bit, Grahm sat down next to her. #You know I am proud of you don´t you, cub? You are only ten and you already know so much. You have a Master to train you in human magic and leaders from all different races to teach you the rest. I have never seen a child work as hard or understand as much as you.#

Jenna grinned shyly. She was never very good at receiving compliment. #Thank you Alpha.#

Grahm smiled slightly, but turned serious after a few seconds. #There is something I wanted to talk to you about, cub. This is important and I want you to think it over before you answer.# He waited for the girl to nod. #All right. As you know I lead the Werewolf Packs in Britain.#

Jenna held her breath. Grahm continued in the same steady voice. #I´ve decided to offer you my bite, the mark of my Packs. You have lived with us, hunted with us and howled at the moon with us. Practically all of the Wolves who know you, already consider you part of us. You know how strict our rules are and you know our punishments are heavy. Now I ask you, do you wish to become one of the pack? #

Taking off her shirt, Jenna turned her shoulder to the Werewolf. #That snake is the mark that the High Prince of the Nightwalkers honoured me with a year ago. Ever since that happened I´ve known my other teachers might desire to mark me. As long as they understand I will not abandon any of my packs in favour of the others, I am willing and proud to take their marks.#

Jenna turned back and looked her teacher deep in the eyes. She bared her teeth and lowered her shoulders, growling out. #I would be honoured to bear your bite, my Alpha.#

The Alpha growled his pleasure and dove for his cub´s neck. He bit down firmly, enough to scar, but not enough to transmit the curse. He held her there in his jaws until she whimpered her submission. The mark gave her the instinct of a true Were. She would no longer have problems with curtesy´s, Grahm thought absently.

END FLASHBACK

In the months that followed Jenna had received marks from her other teachers as well. She bore them proudly, but in secrecy. Other than Master, no human knew of them. She was careful to glamour them invisible every day for fear of discovery. The wizarding world would lynch her if they found out.

The world of the magical beings changed for the better though. It didn´t escape her notice that the relationships between the different species had gone from a tense non-fire to a tentative truce when they gained her as a common packmember.

Besides the pentagram on her left hand, the wolf bite on her neck and the asp on her left shoulder, Jenna now bore a picture of a diamond on her right shoulder from the Goblins and a silver raven from the Veela below her bellybutton. That left her lower back as the territory of the Centaurs, her first storytellers. A large red and black rose resided in the small of her back. (1)

The bite on her neck itched and Jenna smiled slightly at her new professor. She couldn´t greet him properly here, even though her instincts were screaming at her to bare her neck and start growling. Unfortunately that would attract way too much attention and would result in questions she didn´t want to answer.

George noticed Jenna´s preoccupation and nudged her in the side. "Are you okay?" He followed her gaze to the stafftable and his eyes fell on the new professor. "Do you know him, Jen?"

Shaking herself from her musings, Jenna sent the redhead a bright smile. "No, I just thought I did. He looked like an old friend of mine."

"All right then." George said gently. He wasn´t convinced and by the look on Fred´s face neither was his brother. George caught Fred´s questioning eye and shook his head minutely. Now wasn´t the time to push the girl for information she wanted to keep secret. In a change of subject he offered. "Have you tried the mashed pumpkin yet?"

"Nope, not yet. Is it good?"

Fred laughed. "Of course. We only want the best for our girl."

Jenna looked up sharply. "Our girl?"

Cursing himself mentally for the slip Fred tried to sound nonchalant. "Well yes, I´m afraid you are in fact our girl. We, the Weasley twins, have officially laid claim on you when we allowed you to pull the start of term prank." Bracing himself for rejection, Fred waited for Jenna´s reaction.

When Jenna merely laughed delightedly and said "I see. I guess I´ll just have to put up with you two." he released the breath he didn´t know he was holding. A big grin spread over his face. She liked being theirs! Fred slung an arm over the girl´s shoulder and scratched her behind the lion´s ear. "You don´t mind do you, kitty?"

Jenna grinned and pulled on his rabbit ear. "Of course not, fluffy. I think you two will make my time here verrry interesting. By the way, have I mentioned I love cooked bunny at Christmas?"

Some students around the three snickered softly.

"Watch it tiger. Bunny´s can be viscious if they want to be." George warned.

"I´ll keep that in mind. Maybe I should install a bunny alert just in case I´m attacked." Jenna laughed.

The rest of dinner was spent joking and flirting playfully. Jenna had never felt so at home with humans and she was enjoying every minute.

END CHAPTER SEVEN

NB.(1) I told you I would explain the tattoo´s she´s hiding from the world. Well, these are them.

About the Weasley´s: Percy has just turned eightteen and in his seventh year. He is of course Head Boy. Fred and George are sixteen in sixth year. Ron is fourteen years old and in his fourth year. Ginny is thirteen and in her third year. Just some info.


	9. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I own nothing

CHAPTER EIGHT

_thoughts´_

"talking English"

°°Vampire language, also called Vampiric Mot°°

House-elf language, also called Gaëla

# Language of the Werewolves, also called Grawl #

_LAST CHAPTER_

_He released the breath he didn´t know he was holding. A big grin spread over his face. She liked being theirs! Fred slung an arm over the girl´s shoulder and scratched her behind the lion´s ear. "You don´t mind do you, kitty?"_

_Jenna grinned and pulled on his rabbit ear. "Of course not, fluffy. I think you two will make my time here verrry interesting. By the way, have I mentioned I love cooked bunny at Christmas?"_

_Some students around the three snickered softly. _

"_Watch it tiger. Bunny´s can be viscious if they want to be." George warned._

"_I´ll keep that in mind. Maybe I should install a bunny alert just in case I´m attacked." Jenna laughed. _

_The rest of dinner was spent joking and flirting playfully. Jenna had never felt so at home with humans and she was enjoying every minute._

An hour later Dumbledore once again asked for attention. "I hope you have enjoyed your dinner. Prefects please lead your Housemates to their dormitories. Sleep well everybody!"

Jenna stood up with her fellow Gryffs and walked to the doors of the Great Hall. Two red blurs appeared on either side of her and linked arms with her. "If you have to get to the common room with Percy guiding you, you´ll die of boredom. We will show you one of our shortcuts." George murmered in her ear.

Shaking her head at the twin´s madness Jenna let herself be pulled to a portrait of a unicorn. Fred winked to the unicorn. "Will you let us and our girl through?" The unicorn whinnied and the portrait swung open to reveal a new corridor. Fred and George led the bewildered girl through a maze of corridors and turns until they reached the portrait of the fat lady. "Password?"

Fred turned to George. "Ehhm, do you remember what Percy said?"

George grimaced. "You know I never listen to what Percy says. I guess we have to wait until he gets here with the firsties."

"The Prefects already entered the common room with the firstyears and Mr Potter. Many students from other years have gone in as well." The fat lady commented absently.

"What!" Jenna exclaimed. "Your shortcut was longer than the normal trip?" She laughed quietly at the sheepish looks she got in return. "Well, find a way in will you? I don´t fancy sleeping out here on my first night."

It turned out to be unnecessary, because in that moment the portraithole opened to reveal Percy´s annoyed face. "Fred, George what are you doing out here? Why don´t you do something useful and help me find a student. I seem to have lost one."

"Ehhm, would that be me?" Jenna asked hestitantly.

"Yes. Where were you? Can´t you understand the simple instruction of follow´? Honestly, how can you think to be a valued member of the House of Gryffindor if you don´t do as you´re told. I believe Galen is right about you." Percy said in contempt. He pushed her into the common room roughly, ignoring his younger brothers´ protests.

Jenna was about to respond with a scatching remark when the Head Boy´s words sank in. _"I believe Galen is right about you" _Her courage failing rapidly, Jenna remained quiet Only Galen´s name was already enough make her want to hide as memories of being cornered flashed into her mind. Peering up uncertainly Jenna looked in the faces of almost the entire Gryffindor House. The common room was filled with students staring at her. Suddenly she remembered her lionlike looks and a light blush graced her cheeks.

"Look that´s the girl I told you about." A familiar scatching voice said. "That´s my horrid disgrace for a twinsister. I´m warning all of you, you don´t want to be around her. If you do, I´ll know you are as much a loser as she is."

The Gryffindor´s looked at each other. She didn´t seem like a dark witch, or stuck up or nasty or mean, but surely The Boy Who Lived would know her better. She was his sister after all. Besides, nobody wanted the most powerful child in the Wizarding Society to think they were a loser.

Percy nodded smugly. "Yes, I agree. Breaking rules on the first day of school speaks of a bad character, not to speak of the stunt she pulled during the Feast. I am pleased with your insight Mr Potter. You will make a fine Head Boy one day, like me."

Jenna fought against reacting when the others in the room murmered their agreement. That would only make things worse. If Galen could convince this entire common room to beat her up, she wouldn´t survive. Desperate to be away from the scorning voices, she asked in a forced steady voice. "Where are the dormitories, please?"

A bushy brownhaired fourthyear scoffed. "Do you really think I want a rulebreaker in my room?"

"Well said, beauty. Hermione wasn´t it?" Galen smiled charmingly. "I knew you were a smart girl to keep the bad apples away from the decent folks."

Hermione blushed furiously, looking very pleased with the comment. The other fourthyear girls eyed her jealously and a blonde spoke up quickly. "Well, me and Parvati here.." she pointed to a brownhaired girl next to her "… want that girl out as well. Trash like her should stay in the gutter. Mr Potter, Galen, I feel for you. It must have been awful growing up with her around."

Parvati nodded vehemently. "Yeah, I agree with Lavender."

Galen walked forward and kissed their knuckles briefly. "I know you two lovelies would never be seen with someone like her." Lavender and Parvati blushed and giggled.

"You can´t throw me out." Jenna said, a tremble finally making it into her voice. "I have just as much right as you to be here."

"No sister dear. You have absolutely no right to be here, because I just said so. Find yourself some other place to sleep, you aren´t welcome here. And don´t bother going to the teachers. You know Albus will give me anything I want." Galen advanced on her threateningly. Leaning in he whispered. "Or do you want me to prepare your special room?" Jenna reared back as if she´d been slapped and fell against the closed portrait hole.

The portrait hole opened and Jenna fell back in surprise. She could hear the common room explode in laughter before the portrait closed again, leaving Jenna shut out. Shaking with surpressed emotion and fear Jenna crawled to a corner, wrapping her arms tightly around her.

Hogwarts had been what she had been working for all along. She had expected this treatment from her fellow students and had prepared herself for it, but never did it occur to her that Galen would try to hurt her here as well. For years Hogwarts had been the dream of learning magic in safety, without having to sneak out or look over her shoulder every few minutes. Free of Jenna Hunting´ and the horrible cupboard. Instead it seemed Galen had more freedom than ever. Without James to keep him in line even slightly, Galen could do anything to her. Jenna had no illusions that the teachers would choose her over her brother.

She chided herself harshly _You should have known nothing would change here. You´ll never be free. You´ll just cope like you always do and focuss on what you do have. Master will protect you.´ _She firmly ignored the voice that screamed Master couldn´t always protect her.

She was so focused on her pain, she didn´t hear the muffled shouts coming from the Gryffindor common room.

Ten minutes later two enraged boys stepped out of the portrait, followed by a subdued boy with dreadlocks. "I can´t BELIEVE this! That little shit has them all eating out of the palm of his hand." George raged. Despite their cheerful and easygoing nature, the twins still had the Weasley temper. And it had just been unleashed.

"Well, he _is_ The Boy Who Lived. Doesn´t that count for something?" Lee said consolingly. He cringed when his two friends turned to him with fire in their eyes. To be honest Lee didn´t understand what was going on. Sure the girl seemed nice, but if the Boy Hero said she was bad news, it had to be true. Why did his two redheaded friends defend her so fiercely?

"Are you saying you agree with him, Lee?" Fred asked deathly quiet. It was a very dangerous voice and Lee knew he had to watch his words carefully now.

He was spared the trouble of answering though, because George spotted the crumpled form of the girl in question. He shot forward and knelt next to her. He gathered her in his arms and rubbed her back soothingly. "Hey, shhhhhh it´s going to be okay. Don´t worry. You can sleep in our room."

Fred´s eyes hadn´t left Lee´s face when his brother dealt with the distraught girl. "Yes she can sleep in our room, isn´t that right Lee?"

Lee looked from the furious blue eyes of his friend to the girl in his other friend´s embrace. Damn. "Ehm well…."

"Good." Fred cut him off. He leaned in closely and whispered menacingly. "And just so you know, I´ll be keeping an eye on you. You are the only one who can enter our dormroom besides me and George, so if anything happens to her there I will know who to come to."

Shocked Lee pulled back. "Wh…what…why are you doing this Fred? You´ve only known her a couple of hours."

Fred answered grimly. "I like her, Lee. I like her a lot and it seems she needs someone to watch her back. It´s disgusting how you all treat her after one word of the spoilt boy hero."

Lee regarded the redhead closely. "I don´t agree with you, Fred. I won´t take the word of some strange girl over that of The Boy Who Lived. I won´t harm her, but I don´t want to be around when you two get the entire angry Gryffindor house after you. I´ll move in with the fifthyear boys. You two might want to watch out for her brother though. He seems pretty determined to turn the entire Castle against her. And your brothers seem all too eager to help him." He walked away without looking back.

Grimacing Fred turned to the two on the floor. Jenna had stopped crying and was now slumped against George. Fred crouched on the ground in front of them. "Hey kitty. Are you okay?"

Jenna nodded silently. "I´m really sorry about the trouble we got you in. We didn´t mean for you to be blamed for our work." Fred added.

The girl shook her head. "Not your fault. Galen would have found another reason for them to hate me. He always does. I told you we don´t get along very well." Her piercing green eyes looked up to meet his blue with a watery smile. "Nobody ever chose my side before. Thanks." Her eyes sombered again. "But I lost you your friend and you fought with your brothers. I guess I really do bring bad luck."

George got to his feet and pulled Jenna up with him. "It wasn´t your fault. If those gits can´t see how wonderful you are it´s their problem. Come on, let´s get some hot chocolate from the kitchen. You look like you need it and you can meet the House-Elves."

Jenna nodded gratefully. Looking at the two redheads she felt her terror and despression abide a bit. Maybe Master wasn´t be the only one who would protect her. She smiled "That would be great."

END CHAPTER EIGHT

NB. Sorry this chapter is so short. I had a very long chapter and decided to devide it in two chapters. Next one will be longer, I swear!


	10. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I own nothing

CHAPTER NINE

_thoughts´_

"talking English"

°°Vampire language, also called Vampiric Mot°°

House-elf language, also called Gaëla

# Language of the Werewolves, also called Grawl #

_LAST CHAPTER_

_The girl shook her head. "Not your fault. Galen would have found another reason to turn them against me. He always does. I told you we don´t get along very well." Her piercing green eyes looked up to meet his blue with a watery smile. "Nobody ever chose my side before. Thanks." Her eyes sombered again. "But I lost you your friend and you fought with your brothers. I guess I really do bring bad luck."_

_George got to his feet and pulled Jenna up with him. "It wasn´t your fault. If those gits can´t see how wonderful you are it´s their problem. Come on, let´s get some hot chocolate from the kitchen. You look like you need it and you can meet the House-Elves."_

Jenna nodded gratefully. Looking at the two redheads she felt her terror and despression abide a bit. Maybe Master wasn´t be the only one who would protect her. She smiled "That would be great."

George steered her away with a hand on the small of her back. Fred walked on the other side and clasped his hand with Jenna´s. Jenna couldn´t remember a time she felt safer. Together the three students walked to a painting of a fruitbowl. Jenna watched interested as the pear turned into a doorknob when Fred tickled it. Fred pulled at the door and held it open for her to pass. She shot him a thankful glance.

The kitchen was just like the kitchen in Potter Castle, only lots and lots bigger and a lot more crowded. House-Elves were busy preparing all sorts of food and drinks. Then they noticed their visitors and squeeled in joy. "Master Wheezy and Master Wheezy. What can Trizzy do for yous?" A House-Elf wearing a green pillowcase asked, his eyes wide in adoration.

"Hey Trizzy. We would like some hot chocolate for the lady and us." Fred said gently.

Trizzy looked at the lady´ in question. His eyes widened when he looked at her hand. The House-Elf could see through the wizarding glamour and through the fingerless glove. The pentagram shone bright like the sun. Almost in a trance, Trizzy´s eyes were drawn to the names in the girl´s aura.

Ilka! Yous is the human elfling my Eldars spoke of. Trizzy is most honoured to meets yous. But why is yous a lion? He looked from the lionears to the rabbitears on the boys and worked it out for himself. He had seen the results of the twins´ pranks often enough.

Fred and George looked at each other in wonder as the House-Elf froze in disbelief and then started making high squeaking noises. They looked even more incredulous when their girl squeaked back.

Hello Trizzy. I am honoured to meet the Head House-Elf of Hogwarts. The Castle is in perfect condition. Yous have done very well.

Trizzy preened. Thank yous, Ilka. We is working very hard for Lady Hogwarts.

Jenna looked up sharply. You don´t serve the Headmaster of Hogwarts?

No Ilka! We is only listening to our Lady. Trizzy squeaked in askance.

Nodding her understanding, Jenna asked Then could you keep quiet about my marks and that I can speak Gaëla? I don´t really want the Headmaster to know. I don´t like him much.

Trizzy bowed. Anything you wish Ilka. You is one of the elves and we looks after yous. He hestitated. Would yous like Trizzy to break the lion and the bunny spells?

Yes please, that would be wonderful. These whiskers itch. Jenna sighed happily when the animaltraits melted away from all their faces.

"Kitten? Why are you squeaking?" Fred cut in hestitantly.

Jenna blushed red. She had forgotten how strange the language sounded to anyone who didn´t understand it. "Ehm well do you remember I said the House-elves at Potter Castle were like family?"

The twins nodded. "Well, they taught me how to speak Gaëla, the language of the House-Elves. I just had a nice conversation with Trizzy here."

George blinked. "Wow. I..I never knew House-Elves had their own language."

"Of course they do, as do all the other Magical Beings, like Were´s and Goblins and Centaurs and..." Jenna rambled. She was stopped by a finger pressing softly against her lips.

"Shh let´s get some chocoa and then go to bed okay?" Fred said. He had seen how tired she was. Turning to Trizzy he said. "Can you bring the chocolate to the sixthyear boys´ dormitories? Jenna will sleep with us, because the fourthyear girls threw her out."

Trizzy looked mad. "Bad students, throwing out Ilka. The Lady very angry." In agreement with the House-Elf´s words, the Castle gave a threatening rumble. "The Lady Hogwarts heard yous and she is making a place for Ilka to be sleeping in yous room. Trizzy is getting Ilka´s trunk to new room and chocolate also there."

The twins looked a little confused at Jenna´s new name, but remained silent. They would ask for an explanation later. "Thanks Trizzy." Jenna said tiredly.

"Yeah, you´re the best Triz, ol´buddy." Fred piped up with a grin. It was always fun to see the little Elves squirm when they received compliments. Unfortunately for the prankster, Trizzy decided to just pop away to avoid an akward situation.

"Well, let´s go to our room then. I´m beat." George pulled the two others out of the kitchen, laughing about Fred´s grumbling over cowardly House-Elves, popping away when the fun starts.´

In front of the portrait of the fat lady they halted. George put his finger under Jenna´s chin and tilted her head up, forcing the scared girl to meet his eyes. "We have to go through the common room to get to our room. I don´t know how many people are still in there, but don´t worry. Me and Fred are right there with you. Ignore everyone else."

"Okay. Just don´t leave me." Jenna didn´t care that she sounded needy. Her scrambled emotions would not survive another confrontation with her peers, without some backup.

"Password, dearies?" The imperious voice of the portrait called.

"Galen Potter, the hero of the wizarding world" Fred ground out. Lee hadn´t been joking when he said Percy was happy about the new Gryffindorboy. As soon as he had the chance he had changed the password to the name of the brat. Luckily George had heard him bragging about it when they left the commonroom after the fight, otherwise they would have no way to know the new password.

The fat lady smiled and the portrait swung open.

Jenna took a quick look around the room and sighed in relief when she saw it was almost empty. A cheerful looking redhead bounced over, but her face changed when she spotted the fourthyear. She put her hands on her hips and bellowed. "Fred, George what the hell are you doing with that bitch? I thought Percy and Ron were exaggerating when they told me about the fight. Did you really say The Boy Who Lived was a liar? How could you?"

George anwered tersely. "I don´t see how this is your problem, Ginny."

Ginny glared back and was starting to warm up to give her stupid brother a good shouting, when a hand on her shoulder stopped her. "Lovely Ginevra, do not blame them. My sister must have done something to them. It is her you should be angry at, but don´t worry. I´m sure your brothers will see reason in no time. Now I believe you wanted to hear more about my Quidditch skills?"

She quieted immediately and smiled dreamily at Galen. "Yes, I would love to hear more Galen. You must be very good on a broom." They walked away not sparing the three others another glance.

George growled angrily, but Jenna stopped him from going after them "Please George, not now." She pleaded. George calmed down and nodded. "Let´s go then. Our room is up the stairs left. Only Fred, you and I sleep there now Lee has moved out. Nobody but us can enter the room, so you won´t be bothered."

The room was very bright and cozy. The carpet, walls and ceiling were darkred, with golden patterns. Jenna looked around feeling a little better, until her eyes fell on the beds. Or more precisely on the one very large bed on the left. "Oh shit, ehhm guys. Do you remember what Trizzy said about Lady Hogwarts making a place for me to sleep? It seems that the Lady can´t or won´t create a new bed. She has melted your two beds together to make room for me. I don´t have enough strength for a permanent transfiguration the size of a bed right now." She hestitated. "We´ll have to share I guess."

Fred looked at her in question. "You know we won´t do anything don´t you? We would never force you to do anything you don´t want to. Is it really that bad to sleep in the same bed?"

Jenna blushed. "Well, I guess not. I just didn´t expect this."

Fred chuckled. "Neither did we kitten."

Taking a deep breath, George walked to the still redfaced girl. He gently placed his hands on her hips and looked at her face for her reaction. "Fred is right. We would never do anything you don´t want us to do, but I must say I am grateful to the Castle for placing us in one bed. I would very much like to go to sleep with you in my arms."

"Me? B-but why?" Jenna stuttered. She wasn´t used to this kind of attention.

"Why?" Fred laughed as he walked towards the other two. He gently stroked the red cheeks. "Because you are the most beautiful person I have ever met, outside and inside. You look gorgeous, you´re smart and funny and nice to others." He sighed in helpless frustration. "I don´t understand how your brother or anyone for that matter, could ever dislike you."

"Really? You mean that?" Jenna´s voice trembled.

George smiled gently and placed a soft kiss on her lips. "Yes we do. Both of us. We know you haven´t told us all about yourself. You know more than you let on, for instance about Professor Grahm." He held up a hand to stop her protests. "Don´t lie, Jenna. We aren´t stupid. We saw how you two exchanged glances." His tone softened. "But we can respect that you have secrets. Just promise to come to us if you need help. We want to be there for you. Don´t shut us out, okay?"

Jenna sniffed emotionally. "Okay, I can do that." She laughed at herself. "Look at me. You say one nice thing and I´m blubbering. I´m an emotional wreck."

"You´re just tired, kitten." Fred spelled her clothes to change to a large T-shirt. He lifted her in his arms and held her close as George threw back the covers of the bed. Gently lowering her on the white sheets he gave her a small smile. Fred stroked the dark hair whispering softly. "Our girl."

A smile lit up her face in answer and Fred´s breath was caught in his throat. She really was beautiful. "You might want to change into your nightclothes instead of standing there like an idiot." George said amused by his brother´s antics.

Fred shook himself and grinned sheepishly. Changing quickly he crawled into the bed next to his girl. George slid in the bed on the other side and pulled the blankets over them.

Jenna lay there on her side, slightly tense. It was one thing to say it was okay to share a bed, it was another thing to actually be in bed with two guys. George noticed and pulled her gently towards him, letting her use his chest as a pillow. He used his arm to encircle her shoulders and cradle her against him. "Shhh, you don´t have to do anything. Just relax, princess. We won´t hurt you."

A warm body pressed itself against Jenna´s back and a voice whispered against her neck. "You´re our girl. We keep you safe. Sleep kitten."

Fred encircled her waist with his arm and breathed in her scent deeply. The two people that were quickly becoming the most important thing in his life were here in his bed. He felt at home.

That´s how Jenna fell asleep, half on top of George with Fred pressed up against her from behind. For the first time in a month she didn´t have a nightmare of the days James had punished her. For the first time in a long time she slept soundly.

END CHAPTER NINE

NB. This story will be a threesome, thought there will be only real Jenna/George and Jenna/Fred action. Fred and George are sharing the girl and there will be little to no slash.

I know it went a bit fast, but I think the twins would work fast when they really want a girl. They won´t go much further for a while now. Jenna isn´t used to so much positive attention so she just goes along with it. I am quite pleased with this chapter. Let me know what you think about it!


	11. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I own nothing

CHAPTER TEN

_thoughts´_

"talking English"

°°Vampire language, also called Vampiric Mot°°

House-elf language, also called Gaëla

# Language of the Werewolves, also called Grawl #

_LAST CHAPTER_

_A warm body pressed itself against Jenna´s back and a voice whispered against her neck. "You´re our girl. We keep you safe. Sleep kitten."_

_Fred encircled her waist with his arm and breathed in her scent deeply. The two people that were quickly becoming the most important thing in his life were here in his bed. He felt at home._

_That´s how Jenna fell asleep, half on top of George with Fred pressed up against her from behind. For the first time in a month she didn´t have a nightmare of the days James had punished her. For the first time in a long time she slept soundly. _

At six o´clock the next morning, Jenna woke up. She knew immediately she had overslept. It was way too bright to be five o´clock. Her two bedcompanions were still fast asleep.

Jenna mentally went over her new schedule. Five to six o´clock jogging around the lake and doing fighting exercises the remaining time until breakfast. Lessons with the fourthyears and homework ´til dinner, two hours of reading Master´s books and then free time. It was much less demanding than her what she was used to, to give her time to make some friends and finally act like a kid.

She sat up ready to start her excercises and then changed her mind. _It probably won´t matter if I skip my reading and running today. Master said I could take a break if I needed it. I will explain it to Fred and George today, so they know where I am tomorrow morning_.´ Since she was already awake, she spent the time studying the sleeping bodies of the two boys with her.

Despite their similar looks, she hadn´t had any difficulty in keeping them apart. Their magic simply felt and looked too different. Now she had the time to study their faces more closely, Jenna could see subtle differences in appearance. George was a bit taller and had three more freckles. Fred had a tiny scar by his left ear. Fred´s hair was just a tint darker than George´s. George had….his eyes open.

"Wha´are ye doing awake, princess? I´s way too early fo´tha´." He mumbled sleepily.

"I know, I´m just used to getting up early. This is already late for me." Jenna whispered. She didn´t want to wake up Fred.

"G´back to sleep. C´mere. Warm."

Jenna choked her laughter down. George obviously wasn´t quite awake yet, but he _did_ want his lifesize teddybear back to cuddle with. Humouring him, Jenna lay back down in his arms. George was right. It was nice and warm there. Her eyes closed out of their own volition and she was asleep before she realized it.

The alarmclocked had her bolting up an hour later. "Bloody Hell." Jenna exclaimed. "It´s seven! I never sleep this long."

"Long? You think this is sleeping in?" George was a bit more awake than an hour ago. "Oh bugger, you´re a morning person as well, aren´t you."

"As well?" She asked curiously.

Her answer came from a cheerful looking Fred. "Of course. You didn´t think this Weasley would sleep in did you? Nope, too many pranks too pull…."

"too many teachers to annoy…." George droned with a roll of his eyes.

"too many girls to woo..hey! That is my mantra." Fred cried indignantly when Jenna hit him.

Thinking over his words he suddenly looked at George seriously "I might need to change it a bit now."

"Damn right." Jenna muttered. She ignored the laughing boys, instead leaving to take a nice shower. Fifteen minutes later she was back, dressed in her Gryffindor uniform and with dripping wet hair. There were a lot of spells to fix hair, but Jenna preferred combing it manually. She brushed her long hair gently and braided it in two braids. She wanted it out of the face for her classes.

Of course Fred took the opportunity to pull one of the braids. He winked. "Looks cheeky."

Jenna just rolled her eyes amused.

Twenty minutes later they walked down to the Great Hall. Fred and George pointed out landmarks to remember the way up to common room. "And if you see that portrait, well that won´t help you because the pictures never stay in the same frame." Of course they did it in their own useful way, Jenna thought sarcastically.

A crash sounded in the next corridor, followed by a cackling laughter and cries of dismay. Fred and George exchanged gleeful looks, "Peeves!" and took off towards the chaos, pulling their girl with them.

Jenna groaned. Master had told her about the poltergeist and his discription didn´t sound very positive. She had to admit he was a good prankster though, when she saw the result of Peeves´ visit;

Three older Ravenclaw students now wore purple feathers instead of hair and had their clothes covered in flour. "What are you looking at?" One of them snarled. Suddenly his eyes narrowed on Jenna. "Wait a minute, you are that sister of Galen Potter. I heard about you, a dark witch that´s what you are. You probably set Peeves up to this, didn´t you?"

Jenna rolled her eyes.Well used to strange accusations, she didn´t even bother to hold back her comments. It was time for Hogwarts to understand Jenaya Potter didn´t back down easily. These boys were no threat. They could not scare her like her family.

Straightening her back, Jenna glared at the boy. "That´s right. I somehow converted Peeves to listening to me and attacked three people I don´t even know because of my evil plot of making all wizards wear feathers. You caught me. Please don´t tell the Headmaster." She said sarcastically.

Fred grinned. He was happy to see this new side of Jenna. "Yes now that you have unraveled this mystery please excuse us. We were on our way to breakfast."

Together the three Gryffindors left, leaving a fuming bunch of Ravenclaws behind.

The moment they walked into the dining Hall whispers started again. This time they were about the things they had heard from the Gryffindors who had witnessed the fight yesterday. The Gryffindors fourthyears, crowded around Galen all looked ready to kill Jenna, while most of the other Gryffs, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs sat a bit uncomfortably. It was so easy to read them, Jenna thought. She had seen dozens of children who the way Galen treated her, but who didn´t speak up because of fear. Fear of becoming the new target, but most of all the fear of turning Galen against them. Only the Slytherins didn´t seem affected. They looked indifferent as always, but Jenna knew better than to hope for their support. The snakes only helped themselves.

"Hey freak, what are you doing here? Shouldn´t you be serving a dark master or something." A brave Hufflepuff yelled from the badger table. His fellow Hufflepuffs looked even more disturbed, but when Galen gave the boy a wide smile they relaxed a bit.

"Yeah, you´re not wanted here. You´re a disgrace to the wizarding world. Why don´t you do everyone a favour and leave." A particularly viscious Gryffindor seventhyear chimed in. Jenna remained stonefaced and marched to an empty spot at the Gryffindor table. She ignored the comments, she had learned not to let the words of strangers bother her a long time ago.

As she had predicted, the few teachers attending breakfast didn´t intervene. McGonagall simply continued eating and while Hagrid looked uncomfortable he did nothing to stop the comments.

Suddenly everyone fell silent as Galen walked up to his sister and the two fuming redheads. In a loud voice he proclaimed. "You heard them ´sister´." He twisted the word, making it sound like an insult. "Leave. You´re not wanted." A murmer of agreement ran throughout the Hall with Ron, Ginny and Seamus applauding the words.

Jenna swallowed. Galen´s proximity made a crack in her mask as fear tried to rear its head. Luckily it was at that moment that vulcano George erupted.

"ENOUGH!" He roared. "HAS HOGWARTS GONE COMPLETELY INSANE?" He breathed deeply and went on in a calmer voice. "I don´t understand you people and I won´t try. Just remember that if you touch Jenna, you touch us. Every hateful whisper or comment we will know about. And the Weasley twins don´t take kindly to being hurt."

Galen looked dismayed. He had thought to pull all his sister´s support from underneath her, but these boys didn´t seem to understand. He opened his mouth to try to convince them, but the two combined Weasley glares drove him off. He walked back to his fans to restore his bruised ego.

Fred nodded satisfied. "I think they understand now."

Despite her shock, or maybe because of it Jenna let out a little giggle. In minutes she was laughing her head off, the relief and gratitude of gaining two such good friends making her lightheaded with pleasure. The boys exchanged amused glances and filled three plates with food.

A voice interrupted them at the end of the meal. "Mr Weasley, Mr Weasley, Ms Potter, your timetables." Professor McGonagall stood behind the table, her lips thin. She wasn´t pleased with the new addition that had already brought so much trouble to her house. "Ms Potter, I have heard about the disruption you caused yesterday. Try to keep it down or I will assign detention. I won´t tolerate this jealousy of your brother. Galen simply is an extra-ordinairy wizard and making trouble for him won´t change that. He´s so much like his parents." She ended wistfully before turning abruptly to walk to the other students.

"I don´t think old Auntie Minnie´ likes me much anymore. Not that she ever did, mind you." Jenna said, absently stabbing her eggs. Fred and George nodded, looking at their Head of House.

Changing the subject Jenna asked. "What classes do you guys have?"

"Ehm I have double Care of Magical Creatures and double Potions today." Fred said looking over his timetable. "Me too. Fred and I chose the same electives, so that´s not a big surprise." George added.

"Right. Let´s see. I´ve got Divination, double Potions, and Herbology." Jenna said. "Anybody I might want to watch out for?" She already knew all about the teachers from Master, but she wanted to know how the twins thought about them. One thing was for sure, she had to keep them from pranking Master or he would forbid her to spend time with them.

"Herbology is taught by Professor Sprout, she´s a big softie. Just pay a bit of attention in her classes and she´ll give you high grades. Then there is Professor Trelawny for Divination. I´ve got one word for you: fraud. Her predictions are hilarious though, you have to find someone with a sense of humor as your partner." Fred stopped talking and looked at the glaring students all around her. It might be a tad difficult for their girl to find a person to work with.

Clearing his throat he went on. "Right, well Potions is taught by Professor Snape. He´s a greasy, grouchy man but he is brilliant with his potions. He´s hated by the entire school except for his Slytherins. But don´t let his snarking fool you, if you really give the subject your everything he´ll tolerate you. We did that. He still throws nasty comments, but he lets me and George experiment in his lab under his supervision one night a week. In return we don´t prank him. Everybody happy."

Jenna nodded happily. That explained why Master hadn´t sent her a note forcing her to break off the relationship. He actually had a bit of respect for these two Weasleys. "Thanks, Fred. That really helps."

As Fred had predicted, Trelawny turned out to be a total nutcase. Jenna spent the entire class sniggering at Galen´s pale face. It seemed Galen took the predictions of his terrible death quite seriously. The only downside of the class was her lack of partner. At first a clumsy looking Gryffindor boy had sat down next to her, but the scorning comments from the others had quickly driven him away. As a result, Jenna had to read Professor Trelawny´s teadrab.

Jenna had a fair understanding of Seeing because of her Centaur teachers. Bane had told her from the beginning she didn´t posses the true gift. Instead of useless practicing in reading the stars and the watersurface herself, Jenna had learned about the old times and listened to predictions from the more gifted Centaurs.

She was at a loss what to do with the blob in the teacup though. Screwing up all her imagination Jenna spun a story about great danger, followed by a thunderstorm. Trelawny seemed a bit disappointed that she hadn´t Seen something like the death of Mr Potter, but had comforted her new student, saying the Seeing Art was very difficult to learn.

Grateful that her class was over, Jenna raced out of the classroom as soon as the bell rang. She followed her classmates to the dungeons, heart fluttering in anticipation of her first lesson with Master. She knew he would ignore her for the most part and he couldn´t let it show she was his Apprentice.

She stood behind a cauldron at the Gryffindor side of the classroom. Again nobody had volunteered to work with her, but Jenna knew her Master would not accept that. The class was an even number and potions were usually much better if they were made in pairs.

With a loud bang the door swung open and Master stalked in. He glared around the class, his eyes landing on the empty bench next to Jenna. "Ms Potter, do you feel too special to pair up?"

Jenna looked down. She knew this was an act, but if she didn´t have years of experience with Master she would be quaking in her shoes. Now she merely answered quietly. "No sir, I just haven´t found anyone to pair up with yet."

"Longbottom." Snape snarled. "Pair up with Potter. What are you all waiting for? Follow the instructions on the board." Jenna smiled internally as she recognised the name as belonging to the boy from Divination. Master must have known this boy would not be as mean as the others.

The chubby boy hobbled over to Jenna´s bench and gave her a hestitant smile. She returned it quickly and said. "I´m Jenna, but you probably already knew that."

The boy nodded. "I´m Neville." He looked pained when he added. "And I´m horrible at potions. I hope you don´t mind failing his class."

Jenna gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder. "Hey don´t worry. I´m not too bad at them, maybe together we´ll get it right. Ehhm could you collect our ingredients? I´ll set up the cauldron."

Neville hurried away, only falling over once.

Ninety minutes later a green mixture bubbled gently in their cauldron. Jenna had found that Neville could work very precise, but often forgat a part of the instructions in his nervousness. She had taken control and set him up cutting some of the easier ingredients. Taking out a knife she took the most delicate ingredients, asperroot and mikanoseeds, and prepared them carefully. After that she started the brewing, while Neville worked on the last ingredients. She kept an eye on the time, adding the cut plants and animal parts with a stir clockwise….two counterclockwise….wait thirty seconds and add two crushed seeds of the pasoflower…stir gently until..

She breathed a sigh of relief when the potion turned clear, with only a few blue dots in it. It wasn´t a perfect potion, but it would work well enough. "Hey Neville, we´re finished. The potion is done." Jenna bottled and labeled it quickly, before Neville could knock over the cauldron.

Neville looked at the precious bottle in astonishment. "We did it? I did it? I actually made a good potion? Wow…I mean thank you…I´ve never. wow."

Jenna grinned. "No problem. You´re not too bad at it, you know. You just need to read the instructions carefully and don´t get nervous. It´s only a potion, not the end of the world if you fail."

A loud explosion behind them contradicted her. When she saw the reason for the sound, Jenna quickly sheathed her dagger and wand she had drawn at the sound of danger. She didn´t notice that Draco Malfoy´s eyes had widened at her reaction, before his expression turned to his usual bored mask again. Galen and Ron Weasley had blown up their potion and were covered in harmless blue goo. Jenna had to fight to keep her face straight. The boys looked very miserable. As if that wasn´t enough, Master stalked over to them and hissed dangerously.

"Ah, Mr Potter. Our new celebrity. Tell me Mr Potter, did you happen to add the flobberwormeye while your cauldron was still on the fire?"

Galen puffed himself up indignantly. He wasn´t used to being spoken to like that. "I already know all of this. Potions are useless."

Jenna winced. That had been a bad, bad move. Nobody was allowed to insult Master´s lifeworks. As expected, Master´s expression turned furious. Beside her, Jenna could hear the fearfull gasps of Neville Longbottom. "Really Mr Potter. If you are indeed so knowledgeble, why don´t you tell me with which potion you would neutralise the poison of an british coralsnake."

The boy gaped. Master sneered on without mercy. "No? You don´t know? How about this. Which are the main ingredients for the Drought of the Living Death? No? Where would you find me a bezoar? What are the differences between Monkshood and Wolfsbane? No? Then I suggest you keep your mouth shut Mr Potter, because I won´t tolerate your idiocy. Three nights detention and thirty points from Gryffindor. Now get the hell out of here." The Potions Master thundered.

Galen and Ron were looking terrified and wasted no time to escape to the Hospital Wing when they were dismissed.

Jenna shook her head and carried the perfect potion to her Master´s desk. She caught his eye and let a small bit of her amusement glint through. Master raised a sardonical eyebrow and took the vial from her hands. Jenna nodded and cleaned her workplace quickly. She headed to Herbology with Neville in tow.

The boy had overcome his shyness and was now going on and on about a new plant Professor Sprout was letting him work with. He didn´t have many friends and spent most of his time in the greenhouses.

Jenna and Neville spent the Herbology lesson covertly talking about the different sorts of plants. Neville was ecstatic with Jenna´s knowledge and droned on about his favorite plants happily. Professor Sprout was less happy about the loss of attention of her favorite pupil and glared to Jenna jealously. At the end of the lesson Jenna had lost more than twenty points because of Neville´s enthousiasm and had made another Professor dislike her. Shaking her head in wry amusement Jenna walked out of the greenhouse. At least this time, unlike with McGonagall, the dislike hadn´t been solely because of Galen.

END CHAPTER TEN

NB. The twins both have their own nicknames for Jenna. Fred uses kitten, because of the lion prank from the Welcoming Feast. George uses princess or love. Helps in keeping them apart I think.

Did you like? And thank you all who have reviewed. It really feels wonderful to get reactions to my story :D


	12. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I own nothing

CHAPTER ELEVEN

_thoughts´_

"talking English"

°°Vampire language, also called Vampiric Mot°°

House-elf language, also called Gaëla

# Language of the Werewolves, also called Grawl #

_LAST CHAPTER_

_The boy had overcome his shyness and was now going on and on about a new plant Professor Sprout was letting him work with. He didn´t have many friends and spent most of his time in the greenhouses._

_Jenna and Neville spent the Herbology lesson covertly talking about the different sorts of plants. Neville was ecstatic with Jenna´s knowledge and droned on about his favorite plants happily. Professor Sprout was less happy about the loss of attention of her favorite pupil and glared to Jenna jealously. At the end of the lesson Jenna had lost more than twenty points because of Neville´s enthousiasm and had made another Professor dislike her. Shaking her head in wry amusement Jenna walked out of the greenhouse. At least this time, unlike with McGonagall, the dislike hadn´t been solely because of Galen. _

That evening after dinner Jenna was reading on the bed. She had a comfortable spot between Fred´s legs, with her back against his chest. Fred had his hand on her stomach and was stroking her softly. Jenna had found out that the boys liked having her close. They always put an arm around her or pulled her on their laps. She didn´t mind at all, she basked in the attention she had been denied for so long.

Setting her book aside she said. "I almost forgot. Guys, I need to talk to you about something."

George looked up from his Charms essay and Fred tightened his arm around her waist. "What is it kitten?"

Jenna took a minute to think of how much she wanted to tell them. "Well, one thing you should know is that I´ve been training my magic and body for a long time. At the moment I´m taking it a bit easier, so I´m not going to be working all the time but I still need to spend some time on it every day. For example I get up every weekday at five to run."

"FIVE O´CLOCK? Ooh man." George groaned.

"You don´t have to get up with me, but I didn´t want you to worry or anything. I´ll be very quiet I swear." Jenna promised smiling. "Anything else, kitten?" Fred asked thoughtfully.

"Ehm, yes. I will be reading a bit more than necessary. And once a month I will go to my…teacher for practical lessons. Just so you know, besides him and me, there is no-one else who knows this. Not my parents, not Dumbledore, not Galen. They never noticed how often I left to go training the past years."

Fred smiled. "Thank you for trusting us with this, kitten. We won´t tell anyone."

"No, of course not….But FIVE O´CLOCK! That´s horrible." George mockwhined.

"You know it´s a sign of old age to repeat yourself." Jenna said cheekily. George bristled. "I´ll give you old age." He dove on the bed and started tickling her. Jenna squirmed and squealed. "Nonono stop it..stooooooooooooop. oh that tickles."

George pinned her arms above her head and grinned. "Give?"

"Yes I give." Jenna panted.

"Good." George leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her lips before releasing her. Jenna raised a questioning eyebrow at the pouting other boy. "What´s wrong?"

Fred humpfed exaggerated. "That´s the second time he´s kissed you. What about me?"

"I´m sure George will give you a kiss as well if you ask for it." Jenna said innocently. She laughed at the disgruntled look on his face. "Come here, Fred. I want a goodnight kiss from you as well."

Smiling softly Fred leaned forward and kissed her chastely.

Jenna hummed happily. "Perfect. Now I can go to bed." The only answer she got were the warm bodies sheltering her from the outside world.

The weeks passed quickly and the three got in a routine. Fred and George had quickly made it clear to the rest of the school they would not stand for their girl being harrassed by Boy Who Lived supporters. Many students, mostly from Gryffindor, walked around with coloured hair and transfigured faces in the first week, before the students backed down. Though nobody would befriend her, slowly they began to accept her, no matter what Galen said. That was mostly because of the entertainment she provided with the twins with their many pranks on each other.

The boys were accustomed to waking up without Jenna on weekdays. At breakfast they met up and talked about everyday stuff and pranks. Jenna had developed a fondness for them and had already caught McGonagall, Galen and Ron. That had been a case of revenge though.

FLASHBACK

Jenna entered the Transfiguration room with a sense of dread. McGonagall had already taken several points of her for very small reasons. It seemed the most fair Professor of Hogwarts had taken personal insultat the girl that ´displeased her favorite nephew´.

Sure enough the Professor´s lips thinned when she saw who entered the room. "Sit down Ms Potter. I do not teach a class of hanging around."

Jenna scowled and had to keep herself back from shouting she didn´t even need this class. She knew that in about two year she would be on this woman´s level. Her animagustraining was going well. Master thought she would be able to make a complete transformation in only a few months. Her form wasn´t clear yet, but it was something with small feathers. She had succeeded in covering her whole body in the little feathers when she first tried to transform. It had taken Master two hours to get her to revert back to normal. Jenna fought down a smile at the silly memory.

This day McGonagall lectured about changing a box into a small kitten. She ended her rant with a request, her eyes softening a bit as they fell on her most prized student, the son of her favorite student in years. "Mr Potter, would you like to give it a try?"

Galen smirked and pulled out his wand. "Changeo namaris"….Nothing happened.

McGonagall looked slightly disappointed but quickly assured him it was a very difficult spell and that she was sure he would get it in a few tries. The class set to work and Jenna sighed. She waved her wand, muttering under her breath the spell she had learned years ago. "Changeo namaris"

The box turned into a small black kitten with blue eyes. "Mrrauw?" Jenna smiled and scratched behind his ears, electing a contented purr. Suddenly the kitten flew through the air to Galen´s table. Galen put his wand down after his summoning charm and smirked at her. Jenna sighed annoyed and walked to kitten, grabbing it to take it back to her table.

"Ms Potter! What is this?"

Jenna looked up confused. "This is the assignment Professor. I turned the box into a kitten."

The already drawn lipped thinner even further. Absently Jenna wondered if they could disappear if McGonagall was angry enough. A spark of unease glinted in the Professor´s eyes, but her voice rang with indignant righteousness as she said. "Ms Potter I didn´t think you could disappoint me any more than you have already done, but you have managed the unthinkable. Please hand Mr Potter his excellent piece of work back and twenty points from Gryffindor for your dirty, cheap trick."

Incredulous Jenna looked over at a smirking Ron and Galen. Suddenly she understood why they had chosen their seats close to her. That way nobody, not even McGonagall, would notice Galen´s summoning charm and they would all think Jenna was trying to get credit for Galen´s work. Sure enough a lot of the students were looking at her with disgust.

Her brother had set her up and McGonagall went along with it. The Professor wasn´t stupid. She had realised it would be impossible for Galen to get the charm perfect, when only a minute ago he couldn´t even make the slightest change. The uneasy glint in her eyes betrayed her. Still the Professor held up the facade of Galen being wonderful. Jenna´s eyes narrowed. She understood the Professor´s extreme dislike of her, but she wouldn´t stand for it. Mentally nodding to herself, Jenna made up her mind. She would have to talk to her boys for some advice.

END FLASHBACK

Two days later Professor McGonagall had given Galen and Ron a lapdancing performance in the Great Hall. The boys had been glued to their seat and had to endure it for ten minutes, before Dumbledore managed to break the spells on his collegue. After she had hurried away, her face flaming, the boys had a loud potion induced conversation of how hot they thought the Deputy Headmistress was, which had many of the students turning away in disgust. Realization dawned on them five minutes later. Neither them nor the Professor were seen the rest of the day and classes were cancelled. Nobody could find the culprits as the Weasley twins had alibies.

It had taken some convincing from Fred and George before Jenna had gathered the courage to really prank her brother. Ever since she met the two redheads she had felt more confident around Galen and sometimes even talked back to him. She knew her boys wouldn´t allow her to be hurt by her brother. Still it was a big step to actually humiliate him that badly. Jenna grinned. In the end it was worth every panicked thought. Galen´s face had been hilarious.

She bounced over to where her boys were eating breakfast. "Morning." She chirped happily.

Jenna flopped down on Fred´s lap and attacked the delicious food on Fred´s plate. Training always made her hungry. "Morning kitten." Leaning closer Fred whispered in her ear. "Why do you insist on stealing my food? Not very smart you know."

The girl stopped eating immediately. Laughter started around her and her eyes shone with mirth as she asked. "Alright. What did it do this time?"

It was an everyday occurrence now. At least once a day either Jenna or the boys pranked each other. They took care it was never hurtful or too embarrassing. It was good fun in their eyes.

Suddenly Jenna felt the urge to break into song. Laughing she gave in and ran to the teachers table. Jumping on quickly, she ignored the shocked shouts of the people whose breakfast she had disrupted and started dancing, taking special care in kicking some of the food on McGonagall´s robes.

Jenna sang a terrible off-key version of "I feel pretty". When she was finished she saw that her clothes had changed into a bright pink dress with little white angel wings on her back. That was the reason the people had started to laugh in the first place.

She flashed a big grin to the laughing students and jumped off the table. By the time she reached the Gryffindor table the spells and potions had worn off and she looked normal again. "Nice one guys." Jenna grinned.

George looked back with a mischievous look. "We didn´t make you dance on the teacher´s table, princess."

Jenna feigned confusion. "Really? How strange. I had the big compulsion to show my little dance to everybody." Losing the innocent look she whispered. "Besides, they don´t know that wasn´t part of the prank and I have wanted to do something like that to McGonagall for weeks."

Fred and George roared with laughter as she sat down smugly, back on Fred´s lap. "I believe I deserve a quiet breakfast now. Kindly remove the prank food, please."

Dutifully George took away the pranked eggs and set a plate with some of Jenna´s favorites in front of her. "Do you want to come to the Quidditch tryouts this weekend? Me and Fred are the beaters of the team. We´ll be playing a mock game at the end of the selection."

Jenna grinned and said between bites. "Sounds like fun. I don´t know too much about Quidditch though, you might have to explain some things to me. I´ve never seen a match before."

"Never seen a Quidditch game?" George cried out in dismay.

"The horror!" Fred added.

"I know, I know. But with you guys around I´ll be okay I think. Plus you can teach me how to fly. I´ve never had time for that." Jenna promised.

The boys had an evil glint in their eye as they said. "We would be…"

"honoured to teach….."

"you, milady."

Jenna looked slightly wary at their answer and muttered under her breath. "I hope I´ll still be around to enjoy it." The boys just snickered.

At the end of the meal all three Gryffindor´s left for their first classes of the day. Fred and George headed towards Potions, while Jenna waited for Neville to head to Charms together. The boy had become a good friend and Jenna was glad. The clumsy boy was very sweet and funny, even if he did have his stupid moments.

"Come on Jen, we don´t want to be late!" Neville admonished when Jenna got caught up in chatting with one of the portraits. Blushing Jenna turned around. "Hey Nev, I hadn´t noticed you there. You´re right though, let´s go." She said cheerily. Mentally she was beating herself for letting somebody creep up on her. Her instincts weren´t as honed as they were before Hogwarts. Not having to watch out for mock attacks from her storytellers had made her take it easy in her training. Vowing to step up the training again, she followed her friend to her favorite class.

The Gryffindor/Ravenclaw Charms class was always pleasant. Professor Flitwick was a small teacher, with a high squeeky voice and a smile for everybody. He seemed very happy to have Galen Potter in his class but seemed just as happy to welcome Laura Malcolm, a muggleborn Hufflepuff. The only time he got angry was when people were fighting or endangering each other in his class. For a little guy he sure had a temper!

"Welcome class. Today we will be working on colouring charms. First to practice the wandmovement. Come on, come on, pull out your wands. It´s a cirkel and a sharp stab!" The Professor hopped around in the classroom helping students with their movements.

Jenna smiled slightly. He seemed have such fun with helping students and when one had it correct he squealed and made sure everybody knew. Despite the huge differences in the two men, Jenna saw something similar in Master and the small Professor. The glow of pride when a student achieved something difficult drew her in, just like it did with Master. She loathed disappointing either of them, because they would loose the quiet (or in Flitwick´s case not so quiet) glow.

So in Charms Jenna gave it her best, while still holding back so she didn´t look too advanced. She waited before some others had accomplished the charm before she let herself go. But then she made sure the charm was as perfect as she could make it.

Today was the objective to make turn a red ball into a blue one. It was colourcharming of the lowest level and very boring, but Flitwick´s enthousiasm was infectious and soon all the students were making cirkles and jabbing with their wands.

After twenty minutes the first student, a Ravenclaw, managed to turn his ball blue. Flitwick jumped up and down. "Look everyone! Look Mr Gabbler has done it!"

Deciding she had enough of holding back today, Jenna made a cirkle and jabbed her wand whispering the required incantation. "…Huneka Blauw" She kept concentrating on the colour until the ball was a deep sea blue. It was so convincing it almost looked as if there really was flowing water in the ball.

Flitwick skipped over and looked at the ball in amazement. "Well done. Well done indeed Miss Potter. It is a most magnificent piece of work. Do you mind if I keep this? A most remarkable colour." He mumbled to himself.

Blushing happily, Jenna shook her head. "I don´t mind Professor. You can keep it."

The small Professor smiled and hopped to a student who couldn´t figure out what he did wrong. Jenna smiled proudly at Neville who looked at her in awe, determined to ignore the glaring from Galen and his gang. Instead she poured all her attention into helping a very grateful Neville with his work and gradually the heavy gazes left her back. All in all it was a very nice lesson.

Too soon for Jenna´s liking it was time to go to Care of Magical Creatures.

Walking towards the space designed for this Gryffindor/Slytherin class, near the forest, Jenna started to feel uncomfortable. A steady pounding in her head and against her mental shields made her dizzy. Her senses were screaming at her. Never before had she been afraid of the Forbidden Forest, but something had changed. Something very dark resided there.

As quick as the feeling came up, it disappeared. Whatever had been in the forest had left. Jenna shook her head. Maybe she was just going paranoid.

Her attention was pulled back to Hagrid who had started the lesson. "E´ryone. T´day we´re workin´ with the´se beauties. They´re called Giza. Now ´ho knows wha´ exactly they are?"

One of the Slytherins raised a hand in the air when nobody else reacted. Hagrid looked a bit surprised but quickly called on her. "Yea´ miss.." The blond rolled her eyes and said icily. "Greengrass. Miss Greengrass. And Giza are magical feline predators. They are often mistaken for Wildcats, but Giza can sprout wings in times of dire need. They have superb senses, even better than wolves and are very territorial."

"Eh righ´ , that´s five points to Slytheri´." Hagrid looked very uncomfortable with awarding points to the House of the snakes, but brightened up when he said. "Today we´re goin´ta pet´em. ho wants ta go firs´?"

All students inched back slowly, already having seen the growling tigerlike animals in the cages.

In the end Hagrid appointed Galen to be the first. The boy looked almost green with fear but approached the cages slowly. "Ya migh´ wan´ a bit o´ this." Hagrid handed Galen a vile of animal calming potion. "Jus´ rub it on yer hands and they´ll be as harmless as a puppy." He chuckled to himself and watched how Galen sploshed more than enough potion on his hands and rubbed it in, before contemplating the still full bottle for a moment. After a few seconds he took more of the liquid and spread it over every bit of exposed flesh he had.

Armed with his wand, Galen stepped into the cage and watched the predators react to his potion induced scent. They all fell down, practically asleep. Hagrid looked disappointed. "Ya migh´ave used a bi´ too much potion." Galen just looked relieved and then smug when he saw the impressed faces of his peers. Brazenly he walked forward an reached out to stroke the closest Giza. Too dazed to do anything else, the beast let him.

Despite herself Jenna felt a bit of anxiety when Galen stepped into the cage. It was like watching a carcrash, inevitably horrible but you just can´t tear your eyes away. When everything turned out alright Jenna shook her head. It may have been a brave thing, but it was also incredibly stupid of Galen to go in first with no guarantee the potion would work. Everybody knew how Hagrid was with his ´harmless´ animals.

One by one each student approached the cages, wearing a generous amount of the potion. All went well and the faces showed relief and excitement. When it was Jenna´s turn, things went differently though. Despite not being a full Werewolf, she still had the instincts and apparantly also the smell of one. Or at least the smell of a predator. As soon as she came within six feet of the cage, the Giza were roused from their potioninduced slumber, their survival instincts beating the drug.

They went wild, growling and clawing at the walls of their prison.

Jenna felt her wolfish side react and she fought the urge to snarl back. To defend her territory and throw out the intruders. Before she could let the urge overcome her, Jenna was jerked back into her normal mind when a deep commanding growl forced those instincts into submission.

Looking around she saw everyone staring at her strangely. She was on the ground with Professor Grahm blocking the view of the Giza. ´_Alpha!´_ Her mind screamed at her. Relieved Jenna looked him in the eye and froze. Alpha´s eyes were a burning amber, glaring into her very soul. Quickly running through her knowledge of the lore of the Werewolves she suddenly realised her error. It hadn´t been her place to challenge the intruders. As a lower ranked packmember she should have run to the Alpha and inform him of the situation, instead of taking action herself. Despite it being an accident she had offended her superior immensely with her actions. To him it seemed as if she didn´t trust his fighting capabilities. That was one of the worst insults a Werewolf, especially an Alpha, could get.

"´re ya alrigh´ there?" Hagrid asked concerned. He had been surprised when the Giza suddenly went wild when the girl walked up to them. She had gone into a sort of trance, staring at the animals strangely, almost ferally. Then Grahm arrived suddenly, who pushed her away from the cages forcefully. That seemed to break the spell and she was now looking around in confusion.

"Yeah..I.yeah I think so. I´ll just..just go to the Castle now." Jenna stuttered.

Professor Grahm spoke up as well, though his eyes never left the girl on the ground. "I think that would be best indeed. Carry on with your class Hagrid. I´ll take her back."

He stalked away, leaving Jenna to scramble after him to keep up. He didn´t speak a word, but led her to his private rooms through a secret passage, making sure nobody noticed them.

Jenna looked at her Alpha with apprehension as he shed his shoes, socks and shirt. She knew punishment would come and he was shedding his clothes to keep them clean of blood. Resigning herself Jenna placed a strong locking and silencing charm on the room. Nobody would know of this.

Then she kicked off her shoes and took of her robes and gloves. She stood before her Alpha barefoot and in a thin shirt and loose sweatpants. Baring her bitemark she waited silently and submissively. She had to show penance for her behavior. She had no chance to brace herself as she was suddenly knocked over by the strong man.

Jenna let herself go limp when the Werewolf attacked with his sharpened nails and teeth. She had insulted her Alpha and she would pay. When she had accepted the werewolfbite she had known punishments were harsh and she accepted that she now had to follow Werewolf rules. Finally Alpha deemed it enough and then bit over his bite mark harshly, shaking Jenna until she started whimpering. #I´m sorry Alpha. I was wrong. I obey now. I submit. I accept my punishment.#

The Werewolf growled approval at the words, but didn´t release his teeth from the girls neck. Instead he bit down harder until he drew blood. Satisfied he let go, leaving Jenna gasping on the ground. She didn´t dare move until she got permission.

Feeling the blood trickle down her neck, Jenna sighed. Her Alpha had drawn blood. He only did that if he was really really pissed. She peered up from under her lashes. He seemed reasonably calm now. #Get up cub.#

Keeping her eyes on the ground, Jenna clambered to her feet.

#Do you understand why I punished you?#

She nodded miserably. #Yes Alpha, I do. I´m sorry.#

Grahm eyed her sternly for a minute, judging her sincerety, before he gave a small nod. #You have shown remorse and have endured your punishment with dignity. I forgive you, cub.#

Jenna let out a relieved breath and smiled shakily at her Alpha. Things were okay again in the pack. Grahm lifted his hand, now devoid of sharp nails and traced the wounds he had left. A deep scratch on each of Jenna´s cheekbones, a bruised and bleeding neck and dozens of little wounds on her arms and torso. The shirt was ripped beyond salvation.

He let his eyes wander over his cub´s form critically, making sure he hadn´t hurt her too badly. He knew she could handle the punishments, but he was always a bit careful with her. Because of her bond with the Vampires, Jenna had gained a faster healing system, but it took away the possibility of using Healing Charms on her. Potions could work, but the Charms were rejected by her Vampire blood.

Satisfied he sat down and held open his arms. A small smile graced his lips when Jenna immediately crawled into them. She needed the reassurance that her Alpha wasn´t angry anymore and that she was loved.

Jenna smiled to herself as she nuzzeled her Alpha´s neck. It felt really good to be embraced like this. After a while she broke the comfortable silence with a question she had been meaning to ask for a while. #How are things in the Southern Pack, Alpha?#

Alpha chuckled. #Don´t you mean ´how is Vivian?´ I was wondering when you would come to me asking about her, cub.#

Growling slightly in annoyance, Jenna repeated. #How is Vivian then? I haven´t had a letter from her in three months. I´m getting a bit worried.#

#Oh there is no need to be worried. Young Vivian has just been…preoccupied with a certain Silverfoot Packmember.#

#Oooh what´s his name? How did they meet? Do I know him? Oh why didn´t she tell me? How long has she known him? Are they thinking about Mating? Is sh.# Jenna was cut off by Alpha´s deep laughter. #Patience cub. She will let you know when the time is right. Now put on your robes, I think it is time for you to go to lunch. Don´t want to make your mates worried now do you?#

Jenna had already put her robes and shoes back on and gathered her stuff when the words sank in.

Immediately she blushed crimson. #Mates? No, they´re…we haven´t…I mean..NO.#

Tilting up his cubs face so that she was looking him in the eye, Grahm said. #They can be good mates. They smell right.# He ran a gentle hand across the already healed cheek and gently steered his cub out of the room. #Don´t forget, good mates are hard to find.#

And with that he ushered a stunned girl out of his rooms. Jenna stood staring at the door for a few more moments before chuckling tiredly and walking to the Great Hall. Only a Potions Class left today, thank Merlin. She had had enough excitement for one day.

END CHAPTER ELEVEN

I hope you don´t think Grahm was too harsh. In my opinion he´s a nice man, but if you violate the Packrules he lets the wolf loose. That´s why he was so violent and after that so calm. The wolf felt that his cub had been punished enough and now she needed comfort.

Nice long chapter right? I´m having a bit of trouble with the next chapter, but I´ll try to get it done soon. And thank you to those of you who have reviewed.


	13. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I own nothing

CHAPTER TWELVE

thoughts´

"talking English"

°°Vampire language, also called Vampiric Mot°°

House-elf language, also called Gaëla

# Language of the Werewolves, also called Grawl #

_LAST CHAPTER _

Jenna had already put her robes and shoes back on and gathered her stuff when the words sank in.

Immediately she blushed crimson. #Mates? No, they´re…we haven´t…I mean..NO.#

Tilting up his cubs face so that she was looking him in the eye, Grahm said. #They can be good mates. They smell right.# He ran a gentle hand across the already healed cheek and gently steered his cub out of the room. #Don´t forget, good mates are hard to find.#

And with that he ushered a stunned girl out of his rooms. Jenna stood staring at the door for a few more moments before chuckling tiredly and walking to the Great Hall. Only a Potions Class left today, thank Merlin. She had had enough excitement for one day.

Finally, finally the weekend came. Jenna let out a relieved sigh when she sank into her chair by the fire after Friday´s dinner. These last few days had been horrible. After the fiasco in CoMC, rumors had started again among her fellow students. Everybody wanted to know what had happened and most importantly why it had happened. Naturally Galen used this opportunity to try to convince everybody it had been dark magic. For some reason he had always liked to portray his sister as a dark witch or a freak. Either was okay. Jenna figured it was to make him look good in comparison.

Nobody actually tried to do anything, not even Galen and his fans. He had kept his distance since Fred and George had threatened to prank him non-stop for the rest of the year. Angry Weasley-twins were dangerous, even he acknowledged that.

So Jenna was safe from harm, but the whispers followed her everywhere and she was sick of it.

"You okay, princess?" George appeared behind her and started a light massage on Jenna´s shoulders.

"Ooh that´s nice…yeah I´m okay. Just a bit tired of everything. I think I´m going to call it a night in just a bit." Jenna moaned in pleasure.

Fred who had just entered the room, swallowed heavily at the sound, adjusting his pants slightly. His eyes were drawn to the picture that the two people in the room made. George running his hands over Jenna´s shoulder, watching her reactions intently, while the girl in question had a look of pure ecstacy on her face. His thoughts wandered to different situations where he could put that look upon her face before he caught himself.

Trying to make his voice sound normal Fred said. "Good idea. Wouldn´t want you to be tired for the Try-outs tomorrow, now would we?"

The look he got from George told plainly that his attempts to hide the arousal in his words were futile. Jenna looked at him intently, before she nodded.

"Yeah, so…I´ll talk to you two tomorrow again."

When she lay in the bed a few minutes later, her thoughts drifted to the uncomfortable situation just now. She had felt the kisses she shared with the boys heating up during the last few weeks. Her dreams had come to revolve around the boys and were slowly turning more passionate. She found herself staring at Fred´s ass or itching to run her fingers over George´s bare chest more and more.

Now she knew they were having silimar problems. The lust in Fred´s eyes had been unmistakable and George´s slightly wandering hands had betrayed his interest during the backrub. And it wasn´t as if she was completely clueless about sex. She let out a small snicker. No, not very innocent in her knowledge after spending nearly a year and a half in total with the Veela, creatures whose biggest strengths were alluring and seducing.

Her face turned serious again as the train of her thought went on. Her body had no experience. If it was something she had learned with the Veela it was that flirting was fine, but to be careful who you give your body to. On some deep level, sex made a magical connection between people and it could be very dangerous to bind yourself to the wrong person.

Still it simply felt right to be with Fred and George...And Master approved…And Alpha approved…And she really, really liked them..but was that enough?

Mentally sighing in confusion, Jenna rolled to her other side, determined to forget about it and sleep. It didn´t work that well.

The next morning she was woken up by a splash of cold water and the laughter of two annoying redheads. "Come on, sleeping beauty. The Try-outs are starting in an hour."

Jenna shot up and glared blearily. "Was that necessary? I like to shower but not like this. And why are the Try-outs this early? Who was the genius that came up with that idea?"

Fred gave her a grin. "Not early, you overslept. It´s almost nine, breakfast is over in half an hour."

Her sleepmuddled mind woke up in a flash. Jenna´s eyes bugged out and she asked incredulously. "NINE? I _never _sleep this long." Belatedly she remembered how long it had taken her to fall asleep yesterday and sighed. Apparantly she had needed to sleep in after the stressful days she had had. "I´ll just take a quick shower and meet you in the Great Hall."

At ten, Jenna stood with the twins on the Quidditch pitch. A big group of students had come to try out or to watch the proceedings. All listened carefully to Oliver Wood, an energetic seventhyear, was Captain and also the Keeper of the Gryffindor team. He explained to the gathered students that he was looking for a new Seeker, a reserve Seeker, a Chaser, three reserve Chasers and a reserve Keeper since he would be leaving next year.

"All right everyone. Those who are going to watch, please go sit on the stands. I want the people trying out for Seeker here, Chasers here and Keepers here. If you´re trying out for two positions please tell one of my team."

Jenna winked at her boys and set out for the stands. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a black blur approaching and she unnoticable lowered herself into a defensive position. It turned out to be unnecessary.

"Hey Jenna. Whooh, I almost missed it. I overslept this morning and my roommates just left me there." Neville sounded a bit bitter. Jenna relaxed and nodded her sympathy. She knew how much Neville hated being overlooked by his dormmates. At home with his grandmother he was continually compared to his wonderful parents, lowering his selfesteem bit by bit. He had become very uncertain because of that and Galen wasn´t helping.

When Galen first came to Hogwarts, Neville had hoped to become his friend, but soon he saw that wouldn´t happen. Galen wanted the populair kids and didn´t take notice of the bumbling Gryff. After that he had met Jenna and became her friend. But Jenna knew it still hurt him.

Trying to cheer him up, Jenna flung her arm over his shoulder and dragged him to the stands. "Don´t worry Nev. They are just starting now."

They watched as the students rose into the sky with ease, some with more difficulty. The Seekers were first. They had to fly around, trying to catch any of the seven snitches in the air. Wood stood on the ground and watched. When ever he decided to reject one of the flyiers he sent out a red spark that signalled the person to come down. Eventually only two students were left, the new Seeker and the reserve. Jenna was surprised to see Galen among those rejected. True, he wasn´t the best flier but she had thought his title carried enough weight to get him on the team. From the look on his face so did he.

Jenna´s opinion of Wood rose a couple of notches at this. He was obviously only looking to get the best team, not the most famous team.

After that the Keepers got a chance to prove themselves. Angelina Johnson and Katie Bell, the two remaining Chasers of the team tried to score as many times in ten throws, while the try-out Keepers did everything they could to keep the quaffle out of the rings.

Ron Weasley tried out, but he was too nervous to do a good job. He let six throws through and landed moodily. Galen gave him a comforting pat on the back, waiting for the Chaser try-outs.

A thirdyear was picked after almost two hours of selection.

On the stands the students were getting restless. It was quite boring to look at after a while. Jenna sighed and turned to Neville. "Fancy a game of exploding snap?"

Neville shook his head morosely. "Nah, I want to but I think I´d better go inside. I still have some homework to finish and you know it takes me a while to get it right. Have fun watching."

"Okay. Good luck." Jenna sighed again. It was really boring. The Chasers were up in the air now, passing the quaffle in pairs of three. Every few minutes the teams changed and a few students were called down. They trudged off dejectedly.

Suddenly the pounding in her head she had felt before the DADA class a few days ago, started again. Jenna turned sharp eyes to the forest. The feeling of something dangerous was more urgent now, as if the dangerous had become stronger. Her eyes flittered over the treeline, well aware that she would find nothing. The danger had not yet enough strength to overcome Hogwarts wards. Silently she stood up and walked behind the stands to get a better look.

And like the first time, it disappeared suddenly.

Jenna was so caught up in her thoughts she failed to notice the person sneaking up on her until it was too late.

"Hello miss Potter."

Jenna managed to keep herself form jumping at the unexpected sound and turned around, her face a blank mask. Still on edge she used every sense she had, to run a complete scan on the boy before her. He was fairly tall with light blond hair. He was lean, with sharp silver eyes and an air of confidence. His aura was a bit darker than most students, meaning he had done some digging in the Dark Arts, but he wasn´t part of the danger Jenna had felt in the Forest.

Still this was not an opponent to underestimate.

Jenna looked at the boy warily. The boy smirked at her silence. "I´m Draco Malfoy." He held out his hand in greeting.

Shaking the hand briefly Jenna answered. "Jenna Potter"

"Yes I had gathered that. You and your brother have made quite an impression on the school. In a very different way though." Jenna noticed Draco grimaced at the word brother´.

"I guess you don´t like my sibling?" She asked, her voice betraying nothing.

"Absolutely not. The only one worse is his sidekick. Weasel truly is a disgrace to the wizarding world. Then again what do you expect in a family with that many children." Draco scorned.

Jenna glared. "Shut it Malfoy. Ron, Ginny and Percy are horrible, I won´t deny that. But Fred and George are two of the most wonderful people I´ve ever met. I won´t have you insulting them."

Holding up his hands in surrender Draco soothed her. "Relax. I didn´t mean that." Shooting her a charming smile he added. "And you can call me Draco."

Unimpressed with the attempt at seduction Jenna said curtly. "Fine. Draco. Now what do you want?"

Draco looked a bit surprised at her dismissance. He was used to being able to make any girl swoon. His interest peaked even more he answered slyly. "I have watched you and you´ve made me curious. Who has trained you so well? And don´t deny it, I saw how fast you had your dagger and wand out that first Potions class."

Jenna smirked mentally. This boy was a Slytherin and she knew just how to handle them. Master had raised her to be able to understand and manipulate the games of power in the House of the Snakes. "So you saw that?" She pulled out a knife and caressed it lovingly. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Draco tense slightly. A bit disappointed with the lack of reaction, Jenna turned up the intimidation a notch.

She used a trick the Goblins had taught her. Thanks to the Centaurs she had a firm grip on her magic, but the Goblins were the ones who had taught her how to use it in situations like this. She let out a small strand of magic and fuelled it with menacing thoughts. She let it wrap around herself and almost burst out laughing at the effect it had on the boy. He had obviously felt it, because he was white pale but his face gave away nothing. She had to give him credit for that at least. "If you saw how good I am, a smart boy like you should understand how much more dangerous my Master is." Her voice was also powered with the menacing energy and she could see Draco react.

"If I tell you, he will know. And neither of us likes to leave witnesses." She let the boy decide for himself how to take that.

Draco was silent for a while, clearly considering the danger of prying more. Finally he seemed to reach a decision and walked past her. Jenna figured he had given up and reigned in her magic. She was shocked when he grabbed her wrist and pulled her closer. He brought his mouth to her ear and whispered. "You intrigue me, Jenaya. Now even more than before our talk." He pulled back and smirked approvingly when Jenna showed no reaction to his little stunt.

Her mind was racing though, this wasn´t the way most Slytherins would act. They would leave the obvious threat alone instead of clearly stating their interest. Curiousness was a Gryffindor trait, not one of Slytherin. In her confusion she almost missed Draco´s parting words. "You might even be worthy of the House of Slytherin. Good day miss Potter."

Stalking off he left an unnerved Gryffindor, trying to decide if the approval of Draco Malfoy was a good or a bad thing.

When she returned the Try-outs were over and the match was going on. The original team, now with a new Seeker and Galen who had conquered the new Chaser-spot, did very well against the reserve team, but Jenna´s mind kept wandering. She didn´t even complain when Fred and George decided it was too late to start her first flying lesson, because it was getting dark. She just followed them in quietly.

The boys exchanged slightly worried looks, but they were quickly erased by the thought of the surprise they had for their girl tonight. That would cheer her up for sure.

That night the fire burned merrily and cast a soft glow on the occupant of the big red couch. Jenna was snuggled under a blanket watching the flames dance. She looked up when soft music reached her ears. She recognised it as Frank Sinatra and smiled. That was wonderful music. Interest peaked she followed her ears from the commonroom to her dorm. There on the bed lay two beautiful white roses with a note.

"Two flowers for our second month anniversary of the day we met you. Love, Gred and Forge."

A big smile graced Jenna´s face when she read the words. It was a simple gift, but it meant so much to her. The fact that they had remembered she preferred white roses, the fact that they wanted to celebrate the day they met her. The fact that they had used the word love´.

"Do you like them, princess?" George appeared beside her.

Jenna nodded furiously and tried to voice her appreciation. Only one thing came to mind as the way to express her feelings. She let go of her doubts and grabbed George´s head, kissing him deeply.

George moaned and trailed his tongue over her lip and into her mouth. Jenna responded and soon they were batteling for dominance. Jenna melteld against him gasping for breath, but wanting those lips back on hers. His hands roamed over her body and she found herself growing flustered.

From behind her, two more hands joined George´s. Together they pulled off her robes and her shirt. She turned in the embrace to face Fred, craving to feel his lips and tongue. "Fred.." She gasped. Fred growled and attacked her lips ferociously, exploring every part of her mouth while his hands explored her body.

Jenna felt herself being pushed on the bed. The soft sheets slid against her bare skin and suddenly she realized she was in her underwear. "Why am I the only one undressed?" Her voice sounded husky even to her own ears.

Deep chuckles soothed along her skin as the boys stripped their clothes to their boxers. Jenna looked on in admiration, itching to run her fingers over the lean bodies. She knew she looked nice too, but she still had the glamours on. Sparing a quick thought to their reaction to her marked body and the explanation she would have to give, she decided to leave them on for now.

"You´re beautiful, kitten." Fred´s hand trailed from her cheek to the still covered breasts. He looked into her eyes for permission and Jenna couldn´t help but smile at the affection that shone from his blue orbs. She rolled to her stomach to allow them to unclasp the bra.

Feeling the mechanism open she rolled back to her back, slowly removing the piece of cloth. Her body arched up when four hands ran over her body possessively, cupping her naked breasts, cupping her ass, stroking her stomach. "Fred…George..oooooOOH" Jenna moaned when two of the hands were replaced with a tongue.

George lapped and sucked at her nipples and licked all the way down to her panties. When he moved to take them off, Jenna shook her head. "No, not yet. I-I can´t…"

He shushed her with a kiss. "It´s alright princess. You have given us so much already. Just tell us if you don´t want to go further." His hands trailed over her stomach lightly, moving away from the throbbing heat between Jenna´s legs.

"George..Fred" She moaned. "I think I love you." The words tumbled out before she knew it. Her eyes flew open in shock. She never meant to say that. Opening her mouth to start apologising, but George cut her off. "I love you too princess." He said, his words accented by the soft kisses over Jenna´s face. "I fell for you **kiss** the first time I saw you..**kiss**...trying to lift that...**kiss**...stupid...**kiss**...trunk."

Fred nuzzled Jenna´s neck. "Hmmm. Never anyone else. Love you kitten."

Jenna looked into their eyes deeply, trying to see if they were playing with her. She only saw honesty and love and let out a shaky breath. "D-don´t stop." None of them knew exactly what she was asking for. Don´t stop loving me? Don´t stop touching me? Don´t stop wanting me? It didn´t matter. George answered anyway.

"Never princess. You´re our girl now."

A rush of wetness flooded her panties and she arched into their hands, letting her hands come up to play with their bodies as well. It was innocent, gentle and everything she needed.

Before she drifted off to sleep later that night, Jenna rolled to her side to put her head on George´s chest like she always did. Her cheek rubbed against his nipple and Jenna could hear him sigh softly. Feeling Fred´s arm snake around her waist from behind, she pulled his hand from her hip to cup her naked breast. "Kitten?" He asked softly.

"Hold me safe?" She mumbled into the soft flesh of George´s chest. Fred answered by pressing closer and cupping the mound in his hand firmly.

George wrapped his arm around her head protectively and kissed her on the top of her head. "Good night princess. You are safe."

00000000000000000

Jenna sighed. Herbology lesson again. "What is it, Jenna? Don´t you like listening about how to plant the Vistura grematus´?" Neville asked softly.

"I already know this, Nev. Hopefully she will stop talking soon so we can finally plant the damn flower." Jenna hissed back.

"MS POTTER. How many times do I have to tell you to pay attention? Ten points from Gryffindor." Professor Sprout called. Her resentment for ´stealing´ her little greenthumbs (as she had called Neville) hadn´t changed and she took any opportunity to show it.

Jenna sighed. "I´m sorry Professor."

Sprout was already droning on about the poisonous yellow thorns that you had to watch out for with the Vistura grematus and Jenna´s thoughts drifted back to _that_ night.

She smiled to herself. It had been the most wonderful night of her life. The next morning hadn´t been uncomfortable at all. Instead it had made the three even more at ease in each others presence. They had come closer together and were wanting for more. Jenna felt like she belonged. She somehow knew that her place for the rest of her life was in Fred´s and George´s arms. She firmly ignored the knowing, amused eyes of Alpha.

When everybody had found a place to sit, Dumbledore raised his hands. "I have an important announcement." His eyes twinkled like crazy as he surveyed the restless students. "Next Monday, all classes will be cancelled because of an important meeting all teachers have to attend. Students from fourth year and higher with a signed permission slip can spend the day in Hogsmeade."

The students cheered. Fred grinned at Jenna. "We´ll have to make a special stop at Zonko´s. We have to introduce you to popping lollipops. They´re wicked. Pop right open in your mouth."

Jenna looked down. "My parents didn´t sign my permission slip. I can´t come with you."

"What? But Galen is going. They signed for him, but not for you?" George said angrily. He and Fred had already picked up hints about Jenna´s home life and they weren´t happy about it.

Planting a quick kiss on his mouth to stop his ranting, Jenna smiled. "It doesn´t matter, sweetie. I´ll spend a nice day at the lake and catch up on some sleep. Be sure to bring me back some goodies though!"

"What´s this? The little princess Potter can´t go to Hogsmeade?" A fourthyear Slytherin sneered when she overheard.

Fred bristled. He was always more easily provoked when it came to Jenna, than the more levelheaded George. Before he could say anything though, a cold voice rang through the room.

"Parkinson, keep your mouth shut if you can´t say anything interesting."

Pansy Parkinson visibly cowered at the voice of the Slythering Prince. Draco Malfoy sauntered forward, his two goons at his side and three other Slytherins following. "Leave Parkinson. We wouldn´t want to get the idea you disagree with me, now do we?" He sneered.

The girl shook her head frantically and ran out of the Great Hall. Draco smirked satisfied. "Miss Potter we meet again."

"Not very surprising since we attend the same boardingschool." Jenna answered neutrally. She tried not to show it, but she was still confused about this boy. What the hell was he doing?

"Very true. Until the next time then. Goodday Miss Potter, Weasley, Weasley." He nodded his head and glided out of the room.

"Well…that was strange." Fred commented.

Jenna agreed. "Tell me about it." Her eyes followed the Slytherin until he was out of sight. Maybe she had to talk to Master about him. Master would know what to do.

END CHAPTER TWELVE

If it wasn´t clear I just wanted to say **!no they did not have sex yet! **, just a bit of touching. I will make these scenes go a little further everytime. They are young, so they´re taking it a bit slow. The later scenes will be more graphic and that´s why I rated it M. I´m not sure I didn´t rate it too high, but I didn´t want to rate it too low by mistake. Anyway I hope you like it.

I just remembered I had promised one of the readers to include Sirius and Remus soon. I´m having a bit of trouble fitting them in right now, so have a bit more patience please. Thanks for reviewing :)


	14. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I own nothing

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

_thoughts´_

"talking English"

°°Vampire language, also called Vampiric Mot°°

House-elf language, also called Gaëla

# Language of the Werewolved, also called Grawl #

_LAST CHAPTER_

_The girl shook her head frantically and ran out of the Great Hall. Draco smirked satisfied. "Miss Potter we meet again."_

"_Not very surprising since we attend the same boardingschool." Jenna answered neutrally. She tried not to show it, but she was still confused about this boy. What the hell was he doing?_

"_Very true. Until the next time then. Goodday Miss Potter, Weasley, Weasley." He nodded his head and glided out of the room._

"_Well…that was strange." Fred commented._

Jenna agreed. "Tell me about it." Her eyes followed the Slytherin until he was out of sight. Maybe she had to talk to Master about him. Master would know what to do.

It had taken some serious persuasion, but Fred and George had finally left for Hogsmeade. Jenna didn´t want them to miss out because of her and this way they could bring her some of those treats from Zonko´s. She was very curious about them after all the boys had told her.

They had wanted to take her through the underground tunnel to the village, but Dumbledore had blocked the entrance two years ago, when a rogue Death Eater had entered the school that way. When Neville had revealed he would be staying at the Castle as well, they had caved.

So now Jenna was enjoying a nice game of exploding snap with Neville at the lakeside. She hummed under her breath and threw her card on the pile. "Snap. BOOM!"

Laughing delighted at the explosion, Jenna turned to her friend. "Hey Nev, is something wrong? You still look a little pale." Neville had gone to get his snapcards from the tower and had come back looking a bit under the weather.

Neville shook his head. "N-no I´m fine."

Frowning Jenna regarded him. "You don´t look fine to me. Do you want to lie down? I´ll walk you to the tower."

"I said I´m fine." He snapped.

Jenna humpfed. "No need to bite my head off. I´m just trying to help."

Sighing softly Neville said. ."Okay, I´m sorry. I guess I don´t feel too good. But the tower is always such a crowded place." His tone had taken on a pleading tone, but Jenna didn´t notice it for what it was. Instead of convincing her to stay away from the Tower, Jenna´s concern was increased by the unsteady voice and her mind was made up. Her friend needed rest.

Smiling happily, Jenna chirped. "Don´t worry. I´ll chase everyone away. C´mon. You need to lie down."

They made their way up to the commonroom. It was indeed very crowded. Putting her hands at her mouth Jenna shouted. "Attention everyone. I just saw that one of Gred and Forge´s inventions is loose in the tower. It is designed to make you throw up slugs, but they haven´t found they antidote yet. I´m not exactly sure what it looks like, but who would like to help me find it?"

The students looked around anxiously and started making excuses. In no time the whole common room was empty. Jenna threw herself on a couch and laughed. "Told you I´d chase them away. They won´t be back for another few hours."

"Very good. Then we have the commonroom to ourselves." A familiar voice said from the open portraithole. Jenna froze, recognising the tone in Galen´s voice. That was how he spoke when he was about to start a new game of Jenna Hunting´. He climbed through the portraithole, followed by Ron, Ginny, Dean and Seamus. His tone was gleeful and malicious. "You don´t have your two protectors with you, Jenna. All alone like you belong." Galen smirked evilly. His foot swung back, but didn´t come in contact with Jenna´s body. She had jumped out of the way.

He laughed when he saw Jenna inching towards the exit. "Neville, block the door. Our prey is trying to get away."

Jenna couldn´t believe it. But suddenly Neville´s short temper and his reluctance to go up to the common room made much more sense. Clinging to the hope Neville didn´t really want to hurt her, Jenna started towards him. Neville looked uncertain and Jenna felt her hope grow.

"You´re not rethinking our deal are you Neville? You did such a good job getting her up to the tower alone, just like I told you. Don´t disappoint me now. I explained it to you when you came up here. I can make you populair, I can make you my friend. You can show everybody that you´re not somebody to overlook. Show your Grandmother you belong in Gryffindor. You know she doesn´t like you as a softie Hufflepuff." Galen said with a smirk.

Looking away from Jenna´s pleading eyes, Neville nodded. After a second of hestitation he placed himself firmly in front of the exit, blocking Jenna´s last chance at escape.

Palefaced Jenna prepared herself for a beating. It wasn´t too bad. She would just go to Master and get her injuries healed right after and her Vampire blood would heal her quickly. Fred and George never needed to know. She couldn´t bare to disappoint them like that.

Galen noticed the lack of fear and frowned. He wanted her terrified like she was at home. She had become way too cheeky here. But what was different here from Potter Castle? It came to him in a flash and he smirked, enjoying the reaction he got when he spoke the damning words.

"I think we´ll do things a bit differently today. Maybe Dad´s way to deal with you is the best."

Jenna turned deathly white, memories of the last visit to the cupboard still vivid in her mind. "Y-you can´t d-do that."

Galen didn´t answer, he just motioned to the others. Dean and Seamus grabbed her arms in a firm grip. Jenna struggled desperately, completely forgetting about her weapons in her panic. "NO, no don´t lock me in, Merlin no please. Please …Neville! Neville help me..nononono, please don´t….nonono."

Neville looked away and focusing instead on Ginny who was smiling at him encouragingly.

Jenna was dragged kicking and screaming to a broomcloset jump outside of the common room. Ron snatched her wand and locked the door, before throwing the piece of wood back into the Common Room. Crying and banging on the wall, Jenna tried to convince her captors to show mercy. Snorting Ginny cast a silencing charm. "Bit loud isn´t she?"

Galen nodded satisfied. "She needs to be kept in line, Dad told me to punish her if it was needed."

Neville stood there looking at the closed door. Ginny walked over to him and hugged him. "You did the right thing, Nev. Galen saw her talking to Malfoy. She´ll turn dark if it isn´t too late already."

"She´s right, mate. Potter needs it." Ron said. In a lighter tone he added. "Besides, it´s not like anyone will care."

Laughing the five friends walked away, a pained looking Neville in their midst.

Inside the closet Jenna felt the walls come closer and closer. He locked me in. I´m locked in. I have to get out. Have to get out. Mipsy. Where is Mipsy? I can´t get out. Ican´tgetout. Can´tgetout. Tinky! Master..Master will protect me. He always protects me….Why isn´t he here? Master…Master please. Master I can´t breathe. MASTER…Can´t breathecan´tbreathe I´mgonnadieIdon´t wannadieIwantoutIwantout. out OUT OUT I WANT OUT IWANTOUTIWA´

Four hours later Fred and George were back and getting worried.

"Kitten? Jenna? Where are you?" Fred looked around the commonroom, an uncomfortable feeling in his stomach when he spotted Jenna´s wand lying on the floor. "Forge, she´s not here, but her wand is. Something´s wrong, she would never leave her wand behind she´s too protective of it. Where the hell is she?"

"I don´t know Gred. I´ve got a bad feeling about this." George answered.

It might seem a bit strange to see the twins so serious, but it was something the inhabitants of Hogwarts had grown used to. Even though the two still played pranks and jokes, they had matured a lot with the arrival of the ´third twin´ as Jenna was sometimes called. When it came to their girl they were dead serious.

Fred slapped his hand against his head. "We. are. idiots." He groaned. "We´re walking around like headless chickens when we can just look at the Marauder´s map."

George nodded. "Good idea. And I agree, you are an idiot."

Snarling at his brother, Fred took the precious paper out of his trunk. Tapping it lightly with his wand he said. "I solemny swear I am up to no good."

The grounds of Hogwarts appeared with the dots of people. "Let´s see, Jenaya Potter is….right outside the commonroom?" Fred said confused. "Wouldn´t we have seen her? We were just there."

George peered at the black dot. "No, she´s not in the hallway. Look she´s in this small room next to it. Let´s go."

They thundered down the stairs out of the empty commonroom. "I think it´s that door." George pointed to a small door they hadn´t noticed before. "Why the hell is she in there? That´s a broomcloset." Paling slightly he asked. "She _is_ alone in there isn´t she? She wouldn´t.."

"NO. She´s alone don´t worry. The map doesn´t show any other people there, I doubt it would fit anyway. And do you really believe she would cheat on us?" Fred asked sternly.

Grinning sheepishly George shook his head.

"Let´s go see what this is about then, yeah?"

"I am quite curious about that as well." A cool voice, tinted with amusement broke into the conversation. Fred spotted the speaker first. "Malfoy. What are you doing in Gryff terrirory? Shouldn´t you be outside or in the dungeons?" He said tersely.

Draco smirked. "Nope. As a Prefect I have every right to patrol the corridors of any part of Hogwarts." He shifted slightly to make his Prefect badge shine in the light.

"It´s only four o´clock, curfew is hours away, so kindly leave." George said sarcastically. Neither of the twins liked the blonde, simply because of the fight between their family´s.

"Yes, but I also have the right and duty to investigate anything suspicious. And I find the Weasley twins having a conversation about a broomcloset very suspicious." He waved his hand genially. "So go ahead and open that door. I´ll just watch from here."

Fred sighed. Malfoy wouldn´t leave until he knew what was going on and to be honest, Fred was very curious about what Jenna was doing in there. He glanced at his brother and saw he felt the same. Shrugging Fred reached out and turned the doorknob. The door stayed closed. He frowned. "It´s locked. Why..Alohomora"

The door swung open and the boys looked in eagerly. Their eyes met only darkness. "Lumos." George thrust his wand in the dark space, his eyes widening in horror at the sight in front of him. Jenna sat with her legs pulled close, trying to be as small as possible. She kept her arms tight around her legs. Her hands were scratched and bleeding from trying to claw her way out through the wooden door. Her face was tearstained and her eyes were red from crying. The worst however was the way she was rocking mindlessly, alternately whispering and screaming pleas to be let out.

George snapped out of his daze first. He crouched in front of his girl. "Jenna? Jenna, princess can you hear me? It´s George. Calm down love, you´re okay." He gently touched her shoulder, but instead of being comforted by it, she let out a scream of fear. She shot to her feet and made a dash for the open door.

In a reflex Fred wrapped his arms around the terrified girl, holding her close. The sound Jenna made when she found out she couldn´t move was closest to that of a dying animal and it cut through the boys hearts. Big tears fell out of her unseeing eyes and she was mouthing words to herself.

Draco stood shocked. "What the hell…"

"Shhh." George shushed him. "She´s saying something."

All three boys leaned in to hear the now whispered words. "Master please. Master help me. Master MasterMaster.."

"Right." George took control. "We need to get her to our room and then find her Master quickly. Maybe he can help her out of this." He went on, never giving Malfoy a chance to argue. "You take her left arm, Fred´ll take the right. I´ll make sure nobody bothers us."

They made their way to the room without being seen and lowered Jenna on the bed. They had to restrain her to make sure her flying limbs didn´t hurt her. George looked sadly at his beautiful girl so broken and tied down. "Any ideas how to find her Master?"

Surprisingly it was Malfoy who came with the idea. "We have to find his mark." Rolling his eyes at the twin´s dumbfounded looks he explained. "Training like hers is only done if the trainee binds him or herself to the Master. Jenna will have a mark somewhere, probably hidden by a glamour. I don´t think she is in a Master/Slave or a Master/Servant training, so she probably is an Apprentice."

The moment the words were out of his mouth, the ancient magic reveiled Jenna´s Apprentice bracelets. Malfoy smiled smugly and looked at the markings on the metal. "This means Apprentice and this is the crest of the Master. That´s…that´s the Snape crest." He said shocked.

Quickly running over all he knew about his godfather and his treatment of the Pottergirl, Draco shook his head. He had never suspected this, when he wanted to find out who the girl´s Master was.

George was a bit slower in the uptake. "Snape? Snape is her Master…b-but she said she had been learning for years. She has known him for years?" Out of the corner of his eye he saw Jenna convulsing in fear on the bed and he shook himself.

"Shit we don´t have time for this now. If she wants him here, we´ll get him." He stood up, but was blocked by Malfoy.

"I´ll get him. It won´t be as suspicious for me to get him. He is my godfather after all." Malfoy didn´t wait for an answer but sped out of the room.

Shaking his head in surprise, George turned all his attention to Jenna and his brother. Fred hadn´t spoken a word since they found their girl in her sorry state. "You alright bro?"

Fred shook his head mutely.

Sighing George sat down, taking his brother in his arms. Both of them waiting for the Slytherin Head of House to save their love. The irony.

Ten minutes later two Slytherins strode into the room. Snape´s eyes flashed with concern and anger when he saw his Apprentice tied down. "I assume you did this for a good reason."

"Yes sir. She was flaying around with her arms and legs. It was just too dangerous not to tie her down." George looked anxious. "Can you help her, sir? She asked for you and I don´t know what to do anymore."

Snape arched an eyebrow at George while he inspected Jenna´s prone form. "She requested me? I had received the impression you needed a Potions Master here." He glanced meaningfully at Draco who squirmed under the firm gaze.

Taking a deep breath George said. "She asked for her Master."

The Potions Master showed no surprise, but inside he was reeling that the boys knew Jenna was his Apprentice. He waved his wand quickly and set up a privacy ward. "Please do not speak so freely about this. It would not do for others to find out just now." Snape looked at the youngsters. He supposed it could be worse. The two Weasley boys would keep Jenna´s secrets and Draco would never betray his fatherfigure. Besides he seemed to like Jenna.

Walking to the girl on the bed, he pulled out a vial with calmingpotion. He held it to her lips, but she refused to drink, shrinking away from his touch. Mentally crying at seeing her so weak, Snape barked out an order in his most forbidding voice, the voice he used as a last warning before punishment. "Do not deny your Master. Drink."

Somewhere in Jenna´s mind she recognised the command from her Master and obeyed automatically. That voice wasn´t one she wanted to disobey.

The three boys watched in shock as the girl immediately stilled and drank the liquid. She slumped when she had swallowed all of the potion. Snape untied the bindings and checked over her hands. They were still bloody from where Jenna had tried to claw through the wooden door. He couldn´t use healingcharms because of Jenna´s Vampire blood, so he rubbed a cream to prevent infections over the wounds. It wasn´t really necessary, she would heal just fine without it, but the Potions Master wanted to keep his Apprentice´s Vampire blood a secret for now.

"She´ll wake up in a few minutes. Don´t crowd her."

The occupants of the room waited in tense silence for Jenna to wake up. George took the opportunity to study his teacher. Snape seemed to have shed his harshest mask. He didn´t look approachable or nice, but George could see he cared for the young girl. Maybe Snape wasn´t that bad for Jenna. She certainly seemed very happy with her Master.

"Yes Mr Weasley? Would you like to say something?" Snape hadn´t removed his eyes from Jenna.

"No sir." George mumbled. What was there to say?

Jenna opened her eyes slowly. She groaned when her head started pounding unrelentingly. Two strong, cold hands held up her head to drink a vial in front of her. All her training screamed at her to refuse, so she kept her mouth shut.

"This is the second time you have refused me. Think carefully before you defy me a third time."

That voice was familiar. "Master?" She croaked out. "..Master wha."

"Drink the potion." Came the harsh voice of her Master.

Opening her mouth, Jenna swallowed the horrible headache drought. At once she felt better. Opening her eyes she recognised the bright colours of her dormroom. That was when she noticed the other three people in the room watching in concern. Her eyes widened in shock.

Mentally going over her words in the last minute her shoulders slumped. She knew she had called the Professor Master´. They must have figured out what was going on. Lowering her eyes, she said quietly. "I´m sorry Master. I couldn´t even keep it a secret for three months."

At Master´s chuckle Jenna thought it safe enough to look at him. He didn´t seem angry, he seemed almost relieved that she had spoken. "I forgive you, Apprentice. These students would have found out anyway I´m afraid."

Giving him an uncertain nod, Jenna looked at her two redheads. "Hey guys."

Noticing their worried expressions, Jenna grew worried herself. "Is something wrong? Fred why are you so quiet?"

Fred let out a small sob and flung himself at her. Startled Jenna hugged him back. "Hey sweetie what´s wr…" Her voice broke. Memories of the cupboard flooded back but this time Master, Fred and George were there to keep her grounded.

"Oh right." She croaked out.

George walked closer and stroked her cheek. He was pleased to see she didn´t flinch this time. "We´re here, love. We won´t let anything happen to you." His tone was confident, but his eyes held the question Jenna didn´t want to answer.

Jenna looked away. She knew what he wanted to know. She couldn´t tell them about the punishments, could she? Nobody knew about that, not even Master.

"Don´t do this kitten. You promised you wouldn´t shut us out. We can´t help you if you don´t let us. I almost died when I saw you like that." Fred was still holding her tightly and he sounded desperate. Jenna felt herself caving. She looked at Master and saw he wanted her to tell as well. Finally she faced the last person in the room.

"Will you tell anyone Draco?" She asked quietly.

Draco shook his head. "Not if you don´t want me to." Jenna nodded. He was being sincere she knew. Normally she wouldn´t even have considered telling her secret, but for some reason she knew she could trust every person in this room. It felt safe.

That realisation was all it took.

She broke.

The words tumbled out of her mouth in a rapid pace. About how her parents neglected her, about favoring Galen, about Galen making all his friends beat her up and turning everyone against her. About getting the blame for Galen´s actions and finally about the horrible cupboard, the boggart and her fear of being locked up..

Jenna shuddred when she came to the end of her story. "Y-you know, I was with Neville. I thought he was s-sick so I made everyone leave the commonroom. And Galen and t-the others came. They cornered me and they l-locked me in. I-I wanted out. I begged and I screamed a-and tried to break the door. I w-was so scared. And Neville" She glared angrily through her tears. "N-neville had s-set me u-up. I th-thought he was my friend."

George growled angrily. "I´m going to get those little bastards. Do you remember who locked you in?"

Lowering her eyes she nodded. "Galen, Ron, Dean, Seamus, Ginny and Neville."

"Ginny? Little Ginny?" Fred was pale. "I can see that Ron would do anything to keep his hero as his friend, but I didn´t know Ginny would go this far."

George shook his head tiredly. "You know she´s had a crush on The Boy Who Lived since Mum first told her the story. I´m not surprised. What are we going to do about it?"

Jenna looked up and met the eyes of the others imploringly. "None of you can tell Dumbledore. If you do, he will call James here and then I´ll be in even more trouble. Nobody will believe the perfect parents of Galen Potter mistreat their first child. And they will lynch us if we say Galen did something like this."

Master nodded. "You are right. We will not take this to the Headmaster, but I am sure Misters Weasley will find a way to punish the culprits suitably." His eyes gleamed with malice. "I would even go as far as to say the potions lab will be open for preparations this month."

The twins nodded grimly. "Thank you…"

"Professor Snape. We…"

"appreciate it."

Jenna yawned and blushed when everyone turned to her. "You need to sleep, Apprentice. You´ve got two hours ´til dinner, use them to rest. You have had a hard day." Master said.

Jenna nodded tiredly. "Yes Master. Thank you for your help." She hestitated "..thank you too Draco. Maybe we can talk some time, get to know each other a bit."

Draco grinned back. "I´d like that, now that I know your Master won´t kill me. You´re good at bluffing though."

Jenna blushed again and smiled shyly. Turning to her boys she asked. "Will you come with me? I really don´t want to be alone right now"

"Of course, princess." George smiled sadly. Jenna was very vulnerable right now. All the confidence she had built up the last few months had drained away.

Fred and George lay with her on the bed, talking quietly about how to punish the ones who had hurt their sweet girl.

END CHAPTER THIRTEEN

NB. Sorry to all you Neville fans out there. I hadn´t planned this, but it just fit. Neville is desperately trying to gain his Grandmothers approval and isn´t secure enough in himself to withstand Galen´s manipulations. Don´t worry though. He may gain redemption later in the story, but first he needs to grow up a bit. I hope I got it across that he didn´t really want to do it, but in the end placed his Grandmother higher than his friendship. He´s not evil or anything. I don´t see him being malicious on purpose.


	15. Chapter 14

Warning: This chapter has sexual content. If you don´t like it, just skip it.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, sigh

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

_´thoughts´_

"talking English"

°°Vampire language, also called Vampiric Mot°°

House-elf language, also called Gaëla

# Language of the Werewolves, also called Grawl #

_LAST CHAPTER_

_Jenna nodded tiredly. "Yes Master. Thank you for your help." She hestitated "..thank you too Draco. Maybe we can talk some time, get to know each other a bit."_

_Draco grinned back. "I´d like that, now that I know your Master won´t kill me. You´re good at bluffing though."_

_Jenna blushed again and smiled shyly. Turning to her boys she asked. "Will you come with me? I really don´t want to be alone right now"_

"_Of course, princess." George smiled sadly. Jenna was very vulnerable right now. All the confidence she had built up the last few months had drained away._

_Fred and George lay with her on the bed, talking quietly about how to punish the ones who had hurt their sweet girl._

That evening Jenna walked to the Great Hall with great reluctance. Fred and George had their arms linked with her arms in support. Squeezing her arm lightly, Fred whispered. "We´re here with you. Don´t show them how much they hurt you. You´ll be allright."

Taking a deep breath, Jenna nodded. "You´re right. Let´s go."

They walked in, ignoring the hateful staring from Galen and Ron. Apparantly they hadn´t thought she would be out already. The other Gryffindors picked up on the renewed tension and automatically glared at Jenna. In the last few months they had gotten to know Galen better, while Jenna remained reclusive. They chose their sides with little trouble. Galen smirked smugly and started whispering to his peers, with Ron and Ginny adding comments. Neville sat with them, looking miserable. When Jenna walked past him, he looked up uncertainly and with eyes pleading for understanding. Fred shot him a deadly glare which had the shy boy cringing.

"Stupid idiot……. backstabber..traitor. Gonna get him." He mumbled to himself.

Jenna kept her head down, not making eyecontact with anyone. She was happy that her boys were with her, but Galen´s trick had shaken her to the core. It would take a while before she felt as free and happy as she had done the last two months.

From the Slytherin table, Draco Malfoy watched with unreadable eyes how subdued Jenna looked when she walked to her seat. Just the day before that same girl would have had no problem with singing a ballad in the middle of the Great Hall and now she was shaking with the effort of merely being in the Hall. A strange vengeful anger boiled in Draco when he looked at the reasons for this change. Galen was talking furiously to the Gryffindors and they looked angrier with each second. It seemed the mellowing attitude towards Jenna had come to an end. Draco glanced briefly at his godfather and saw he too had noticed. Making up his mind, Draco decided to keep the Slytherins firmly in line when it came to Jenna. She didn´t need any more taunting right now.

Fred pulled Jenna onto his lap and prepared a meal for her. She lay her head on his shoulder tiredly. "Thanks Fred. Love you so much."

"Love you too kitten. Do you want some mashed potatoes?"

She chuckled softly and swatted his arm. "Sure Mr potatoeman. Give me my potatoes." Fred snorted at the lame attempt to humor.

Lady Hogwarts saw her little protogétry to keep from breaking down in the Great Hall and made up her mind. She had been unable to open the door of the broomcloset, but she would make sure Jenna was revenged. She would make life as difficult as possible for the ones who had hurt Jenna. In the following months, Galen and his gang would have to deal with staircaises moving the wrong way, doors refusing to open, rude portraits and ghosts and even angry House-Elves. Hogwarts gave a mental grim smile. The teachers would be very surprised to see that one particular group of Gryffindors only received porridge for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

She sighed and reached out with her magic to stroke Jenna´s magic in an attempt at comfort. It seemed to help, because the girl perked up a bit. As a last improvement, Hogwarts changed the two chairs in Jenna´s dormroom into a couch and added a fireplace exactly like the one in the commonroom. She knew how much Jenna liked that one.

Her work done for now, Hogwarts went back to studying her inhabitants, like she usually did.

Jenna stepped into her dorm with a sigh of relief. She gave a small squeak of surprise when she saw the new couch and fireplace. Immediately she knew it was the Castle´s way of apologising. She sent out a feeling of forgiveness and gratefulness, and flopped down on the couch with a happy sigh.

Fred sank down next to her. He lifted her head and placed it in his lap, running his hand through her long hair. Both boys had a fascination with Jenna´s hair. They had taken it on themselves to comb her hair every morning. Jenna let them with an indulgent smile.

George sat down and took Jenna´s feet in his lap, massaging them softly. "Do you want to lie here for a while or read?"

Jenna hummed thoughtfully. "Can you tell me a story? About your family, just skip Ron and Ginny."

Fred chuckled. "We have a lot of family, so I think that will be possible."

George started. "I guess I should start with our mother, Molly Weasley, she´s like a pittbull. Don´t go against her or you´ll regret it. She´s very protective of her children. Dad, Arthur Weasley works at the ministry, department for Misuse of Muggle Artifacts. He´s crazy about all those muggle inventions."

"Then there is our eldest brother, Bill. He works at Gringotts as a cursebreaker. He´s really cool and laid back. He also enjoys annoying Mum by keeping his hair long."

"Does he wear an earring in his left ear?" Jenna asked curiously.

"Hm, yes. How did you know?" George said perplexed.

Jenna blushed. She half-lied."I have a few Goblin friends. I´m at Gringotts fairly often and he´s not exactly hard to spot now it he? I´ve never talked to him though."

"Right. Well, he´s a great bloke." Fred got the feeling she was leaving something out, but continued anyway. "The second in the Weasley line is Charlie. I doubt you´ve ever seen him, because he works in a dragoncolonie in Romania." He grinned cheekily. Jenna humpfed.

"Then comes Percy, Head Boy extraordinaire. No explanation needed." George said sourly. He perked up again and said cheerily. "Then come the two greatest wizards of the Weasley line. Gred and Forge!" He sighed in admiration. "I shook Gred´s hand once. Never washed it again."

Jenna giggled, playing along. "That´s nothing. I sat on their lap. Better even, I slept in the same bed!" She lowered her voice to a mock whisper. "To be honest I still do."

"You cheat on us?" Fred called out in fakedistress. "How can we ever measure up to The Great Gred and Forge? Oh the pain."

Jenna collapsed in laughter. The twins looked pleased they had been able to cheer her up that much.

When she had calmed her breath Jenna smiled. "I would like to meet your oldest brothers sometime. They sound really nice."

"Maybe you can stay with us during the Christmasholiday. I noticed you signed up to stay here. Would you like to come with us instead?" George asked softly. He had been waiting for the right time to ask.

"Won´t your parents mind? I mean after the stuff with Galen and me, there is a rift in your family. I doubt they want me around. They will see me as the one who caused it." She sighed sadly.

"You don´t know that." Fred tried to convince her.

Jenna just shook her head. "Aren´t your parents big Dumbledore supporters?"

Fred nodded silently.

"Dumbledore isn´t a bad man, but he is blinded by his image of Galen. He´ll never believe me over my brother. Your parents will take my brother´s side because Dumbledore told them all about the great Galen Potter. And then there is Percy and Ron and Ginny who all hate my guts and have undoubtable told them about me."

George sighed. "You might be right, but I really want you to come. Don´t say no without thinking about it, please. We really want to spend the holidays with you."

"I´ll think about it." Jenna promised.

"Great. Thanks kitten. It´d be so boring without you." Fred nuzzeled her hair and carried her to the bed. Jenna smiled as he put her on the bed and quickly stripped off her clothes. She had taken to sleeping only in her panties and was no longer feeling selfconscious when she was almost naked.

_sexual content in this scene_

George climbed in behind her and kissed her shoulderblades. His hands trailed over the small body lovingly. He cupped her breasts and sucked at her neck, leaving a hickey.

Fred joined them, licking Jenna´s breasts and sucking her nipples. When her nipple was wet he blew on it gently. He chuckled when the nipple hardened and Jenna gasped. The muscled bodies felt wonderful against hers. Her hands raked over the strong shoulders and she pushed Fred´s mouth back to her breast. She could feel the mount between her legs throb and heat up. She needed…she needed.

"More…more I…need more."

One of her hands went down her body to slide into her panties. George pushed her hand away and used his own hand pull the piece of material down her legs. "Let me, princess."

A finger entered her slowly. Jenna inhaled sharply at the feeling of somebody else´s finger in her. It felt nice though and when he started stroking, she relaxed completely giving in to the sensations. Another finger entered her and brushed against a spot that had her shrieking George´s name in surprise and pleasure. Fred swallowed the sound with a kiss and then lowered his head back to her breasts, licking and nibbling as he pleased. Together they teased her to the brink. "Oh Please Please. George… Fred please I need to…oh please."

Fred crushed his mouth to hers, just when George firmly inserted a third finger and pushed down hard on that special spot. The kiss muffled Jenna´s cry of release and she slumped exhausted. "Wow."

The boys chuckled. "Liked that, kitten?"

Jenna nodded. Then she noticed the obvious tents in the boys´ boxers. "What about you?"

"You don´t have to do anything you don´t want to, princess." George smiled gently at her.

Jenna smiled seductively. "But I _want _to."

"Are you sure, kitten?" Fred asked. He tried to keep the hopeful tilt from his voice. Of course Jenna saw right through him. "Yeah, I´m sure."

The boys removed their boxers and Jenna stared at their erections in fascination. "Big…dunno how that´s ever supposed to fit." She muttered to herself. The twins held back their grins at her comment. That was for another time.

When she saw the two boy lie back, completely surrendering themselves to her, Jenna felt her uncertainty ebb away. They had made her feel so good and now she could repay them. She was determined to make them feel wonderful. Her mind went back to her conversations with the Veela and she smiled. She knew how to do this, she just needed some...

Struck by a sudden inspiration Jenna moved her hand down between her own legs and collected some of the wetness. Placing her slicked hand on Fred´s length she wrapped her fingers firmly around him and started moving. At first she was unsure but the sounds Fred made were enough to encourage her to go on.

Soon she was enjoying herself immensely, pulling and squeezing softly, followed by stroking softly. George moved behind her, his hardness pressing in her lower back demandingly. That reminded Jenna of her other lover and she stopped teasing, pumping the shaft faster and faster until Fred finally came with a strangled yell.

Jenna felt a rush of satisfaction and female pride when he came. She watched fascinated at the sticky fluid covered her hand and was sprayed over her lower stomach. Lifting her covered hand to her face she gave it a tentative lick. George moaned at the sight and pressed his need closer against his girl. "Please..no more teasing."

Grinning cheekily, Jenna turned to face him. Ever so slowly she started licked every bit of cum from her hand, making sure George watched. If possible he became even harder. Finally the hand was clean and Jenna once again wriggled it between her legs, coating it in her own fluids. She took mercy on the poor redhead and settled in a quick rhythm. Jenna loved the look of pure pleasure she could bring him as he came with a whispered Jenna´.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Fred come again, this time in his own hand.

_end sexual content_

When they were finally recovered enough to cast cleansing charms, they snuggled against each other satiated. "That´s it. You´re coming with us during Christmas. After this there is no way they can keep you away from us." Fred grinned sleepily. Looking into her eyes, so that Jenna could see how serious he was, Fred added. "Thank you kitten. Thank you for sharing yourself with us."

Jenna just smiled and snuggled close.

Jenna woke up feeling refreshed. The hurt from Neville´s betrayal and the fear from Galen´s trick had dimmed a bit in the face of the twin´s obvious love for her. She had talked to Master as well about what to do if she was attacked by Galen again. She couldn´t fight back like she had been taught, because if she hurt The Boy Who Lived, the wizarding world would be after her blood. Master had decided to add a charm to on Jenna´s angelnecklace. Now it only took a password from Jenna to warn her Master something was wrong and the signal would tell him where she was. Feeling a lot more confident she quickly checked her glamours to hide her tattoo´s, dressed and took off for the lake. "Morning Sheldon." She called to the brainless giant squid she had named Sheldon´ after an equally stupid boy from her neighborhood, and started her run.

An hour later she rested her head against a tree, panting heavily. She went through a series of stretching and breathing excercises, releasing all worries from her mind.

Then she took out her daggers and started her fightingstances, letting them flow into each other in graceful movements. First her moves were very slow, but she sped up until she was a blur, fighting an imaginary opponent.

She had once asked Master why he had spent so much time teaching her how to fight and duel. Jenna herself was more interested in the culture and traditions of her magical beings. He had replied that one day the dark times would come back and she had to be prepared. Apparantly her storytellers agreed and had taught her about spells and the combatstrategies of their races. Jenna couldn´t preform most of their magic, but she learned to recognize and counter it. She also knew how they fought and that was very important in a possible battle, both for allies and for enemy´s. Her own fightingstyle was a mix of all of them. It was wild and unpredictable, making it very hard to counter.

With a satisfied sigh Jenna sheathed her daggers, waiting for her watcher to make himself known.

#Well done, cub.# Alpha Grahm growled.

Jenna tensed her body appropriately and showed her line of perfect teeth in greeting, while baring the shoulder with the Werewolf mark. She growled back. #Thank you Alpha. How may I be of service?#

Grahm looked at her closely. #I heard what Galen did to you. I wanted to see you hadn´t crumbled because of him.#

She looked down. #Almost. But my mates and Master pulled me up.#

#Good. If you need anything you can always come to me. We just have to be careful that nobody sees us. I don´t want questions and neither do you.# Grahm said satisfied. #Now what did I hear about you spending Christmas with your mates?#

Jenna shook her head. #I will never understand how you know things so fast. But to answer the question, I´m not sure I want to go. It will cause a lot of bad feelings, but at the same time I don´t want to be away from my mates.#

Grahm growled pleased. #You have a good pair of mates there, cub. Don´t let them go. Spend Christmas with them and try to convince their parents of your worth. The longer you wait the more difficult it will be, because by then they will have heard so many rumors about you, they don´t believe a word you say.#

#Thank you Alpha. I will try.# Jenna growled the customary goodbye to an Alpha and walked to the Castle. Grahm called after her.

"And ten points to Gryffindor for a good workout."

Jenna laughed all the way to breakfast.

END CHAPTER FOURTEEN

I´m sorry for taking so long to update, but I was on a holiday! Anyway I´m back now and because this is such a short chappie I´ll post the next one in a few minutes. Thank you all for reviewing. It was such a pleasant surprise to come home and findsuch nice things said about my story.


	16. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I own nothing, damn

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

_thoughts´_

"talking English"

°°Vampire language, also called Vampiric Mot°°

House-elf language, also called Gaëla

# Language of the Werewolves, also called Grawl #

_LAST CHAPTER_

_Grahm growled pleased. #You have a good pair of mates there, cub. Don´t let them go. Spend Christmas with them and try to convince their parents of your worth. The longer you wait the more difficult it will be, because by then they will have heard so many rumors about you, they don´t believe a word you say.#_

_#Thank you Alpha. I will try.# Jenna growled the customary goodbye to an Alpha and walked to the Castle. Grahm called after her._

"_And ten points to Gryffindor for a good workout."_

_Jenna laughed all the way to breakfast. _

She entered the Great Hall and her eyes sought out her two redheads. Frowning when she remembered they were on a fieldtrip that day, she sat down in their usual spot at the table. She felt uncomfortable being alone under the hostile glances from the other Gryffs. Galen had certainly been persuasive it seemed. Shaking her head Jenna filled her plate, resigned to eating alone.

Suddenly a prickle of unease went through her. She could feel the pounding in her head starting and a feeling of danger flooded her. It was the same danger she had felt from the Forbidden Forest a while ago and again it was stronger than last time. It was trying to chip away her Occlumency shields but they were strong enough to deter the force. Determined to find out what it was, she reached out to the black strand of magic mentally. The moment she touched it, her head split in pain. Barely coherent, Jenna slammed her shields down full force.

She shivered at the malice and power she had felt from the foreign entity. It was terrifying.

Deciding to talk to her Master about it later, Jenna turned back to her meal….Just in time to see all the food disappear. Annoyed she looked around to find the culprit. Her eyes widened when she saw the Great Hall was almost empty. A quick glance at the clock told her the food had disappeared because breakfast was over and she was now late for DADA. Her little trip into her shields had taken more time than she had realized.

Cursing Jenna raced down the corridors, thankful for Hogwarts´ help by moving the staircases to the way she needed. Skiddling to a halt at the DADA classroom, she took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

"Enter." Grahms voice was smooth, but to the trained ear an animalistic growl was heard.

Jenna opened the door and walked in. She glanced apologetically at her Alpha. "I´m sorry Professor. I lost track of time."

"Don´t let it happen again Ms Potter. Now sit down quickly."

Surpressing a sigh of relief, Jenna flopped in the nearest chair.

"You look mighty happy today." A silky voice sounded at her left.

Jenna looked up startled into the mercury eyes of the Malfoy heir. Suddenly she realized she had sat down in the Slytherin part of the class and about everybody was glaring at her. She cursed herself silently. This wasn´t going to help her with placating the Gryffindors. Still she refused to move, unwilling to show weakness.

"Well I do love arriving late, don´t you?" She snarked back.

He smirked and turned his attention back to the teacher.

"….we will now practice this charm. The incantation is Expecto patronum´. Remember to think of a happy memory or it won´t work. Partner up with the person next to you and try to make a Patronus."

Grabbing her wand in a relaxed grip, Jenna walked with Draco to an empty space in the big classroom. This charm was one you had to practice on your feet, because the backlash could throw you back if it was done wrongly. In a chair you would fall over, while on your feet you could steady yourself in time.

"You want to try first?" Jenna asked. She knew she was far ahead of most people in the class. She had managed her first corporeal patronus when she was thirteen. Now, a year later she could hold it for two hours straight without breaking a sweat. Last year she had also practised to get it to become solid. She longed to pet the silver puffin.

Jenna shook herself. She remembered how incredulous Master had looked when she produced a puffin as her guardian animal, but to her it was logical. Her only toy from the time before ´The Night´ that she was allowed to keep was a stuffed puffin. He had kept her nightmares away for years. And so what if it was only a small bird? She happened to like puffins! Master´s amused smirk had had Jenna in a huff for hours.

"Sure." Draco smirked and whipped out his wand. "Expecto patronum!" A small whisp of silver came out of his wand. He looked smug as it was more than any of the others had managed, but Jenna was disappointed. She had thought that if the Malfoy heir could make a patronus it would be okay for her to get it right too. Now she had to hold back a lot if she wanted to remain unseen.

Putting on a fake smile she said "Good job! Now let me try." She held out her wand and deliberately made swung her wand a little bit too far. "Expecto patronum." As expected nothing happened. Jenna sighed and let her shoulders slump in fake resignation. "Oh well, you try again."

Draco looked at her with knowing eyes. "You already can do this don´t you?" He whispered.

Jenna nodded miserably. "Since I was thirteen."

It took a lot for Draco to keep his face impassive but he managed. Inside his mind was racing. Jenna had to be extremely powerful to get this charm right on her thirteenth. The only reason the patronus-charm was mentioned in the fourth year of Hogwarts was because nobody would manage it. The youngest in history to have managed it was a student of seventeen. The charm was only used as an incentive to work harder. Draco chanced a look at the bored girl next to him and shook his head amused. She probably didn´t even realize.

"Well, help me out here. What am I doing wrong?" Draco asked quietly. He had decided he would be new youngest to manage it. Well, apart from Jenna, but nobody knew about that.

Jenna smiled and spent the rest of the hour trying to improve Draco´s charmwork. She noticed the glares from both Gryffindors and Slytherins because of her friendly attitude, but resigned herself. Draco was polite enough and she would need all the friends she could get if Galen really started making trouble. By the end of class Draco still couldn´t produce more than a wisp of silver, but it was slightly bigger than before. Jenna assured him it was a good sign.

History of Magic was next and it was as boring as usual. Jenna had taken her normal chair in the Gryffindor territory but the quiet hostility nearly drove her away. And of course Binns never noticed one of his students was being glared at, as he droned on about the Goblin Rebellion of 1843.

All in all Jenna was in a bad mood when she finally collapsed on her bed in her dormroom. The douple periods DADA and History of Magic were all she had today and she refused have lunch in the Great Hall today. "Really don´t have the energy to walk to the kitchen." She muttered to herself. Calling a strand of elvinmagic to her mind, Jenna sent out a telepathic melody. This was the way for Elves to communicate with their minds. It wasn´t mindspeech, it was more like sending your feelings by music. She sent out a melody signifying she needed someone to come. Sure enough a House-Elf popped into the Gryffindor dorm room within seconds.

What can Polly get Ilka? The elf looked up with adoring eyes.

I would like lunch, but I really don´t want to go to the Great Hall. Could you bring it up here, please Polly? Jenna said gently.

Polly squealed and nodded happily. With a small pop´ she was gone and reappeared almost immediately with a plate filled with food. Eat well Ilka! And she was gone again.

Shaking her head at the sweet little creatures Jenna attacked the food. She was more hungry than she had thought. Breathing a small sigh of contentment, she leant back after the meal. "Right, what should I do now? Fred and George are still away and I´m bored." She spoke out loud to herself. Her face brightened with an idea.

She straigthened her clothes and walked quietly to the dungeons. Master had some free hours she knew. He wouldn´t mind a surprise visit. Jenna skiddled to a stop before the portrait of an important-looking middle aged man. He stared down at her imperiously. "Yes?"

Not for the first time Jenna wondered why Master tolerated the horrible painting to guard his quarters. "Fremalze goggles." She spoke the strange password quietly.

The man sneered, but allowed the fourthyear to enter.

"Miss Potter, what are you doing here?" Master had noticed the entry immediately.

Jenna winced. She knew Master couldn´t call her by her proper title Apprentice´ in the halls here for fear of being overheard, but she missed the reassurance it brought. "I just thought I´d come here for a bit."

Master raised an eyebrow, he hadn´t missed the wince. "Very well. Come in." He led her from the hall into his personal chambres.

To her suprise Jenna saw she wasn´t the only one visiting the Potions Master. Draco Malfoy sat slouched on the couch. When he saw who entered he straigthened a little and gave a lazy smirk. "Hello Jenna."

Shaking her head Jenna smiled back slightly. "Hey."

Master sat down in one of the chairs by the fire and said softly. "Sit down."

He regarded her with guarded eyes as she sat in the chair. "What are you doing here, Apprentice?"

"I needed to see a friendly face, Master. Fred and George are on a fieldtrip and Professor Grahm isn´t too happy with me. I was late today in his class."

Draco but in the conversation curiously. "Professor Grahm? Why would you go to him? You know him well?"

Jenna started. She had felt so relaxed in her Master´s presence that she had forgotten about the boy. Glancing at Master for guidance, Jenna replied with a simple "Yes, I know him."

The boy understood the hint and didn´t ask more about it. The glare from the Potions Master might have had something to do with it as well.

Master continued his questions. "Why did you need to see a friendly face? Is something wrong?"

Jenna sighed "No, not really. It´s just so depressing with everyone glaring at me the whole time. I don´t know what Galen said to them but it´s really uncomfortable. I don´t like it here anymore." She pouted.

"You insisted on coming here." Master reminded her.

Growling in annoyance Jenna answered. "I know, I know. And I´m glad I did. I wouldn´t have met Fred and George if I hadn´t come here."

"Ah yes, the Weasley twins. I must say I was surprised to see you end up with them." Master looked at her measuringly. "Though it hasn´t done you any harm, I believe. You seem happy with them."

Jenna smiled. "I am."

From there on the conversation turned to lighter subjects. Jenna revelled in the time she could spend with her Master and the chance to learn more about her new friend. Before they knew it, it was time for dinner. They opted to dine in the Potions Master´s room and called a House elf.

"What can Polly do for Professor Snape, sir?"

Master sneered an order. "I want dinner for three here in the room, with a pitcher of white wine and a pitcher of pumpkin juice."

The House elf bowed. "Yes Professor Snape sir." She was about to pop away when her eyes fell on the girl sitting in the big comfy chair by the fire. "Oh Ilka, Masters Wheezy are looking for you. They is being back from the trip."

"Oh well, maybe they could dine with us? Master?" Jenna asked hopefully.

He sneered again but gave in anyway. "Very well. Tell Misters Weasley to come to my rooms. Make that diner for five people."

"Yes Professor Snape sir!" Polly popped away to follow the orders.

Draco looked up with a confused expression. "Ilka? They call you Ilka? Why?"

Shrugging Jenna said nonchalantly. "Nickname. I made some friends."

Accepting the statement for truth, Draco leaned back against the couch resuming his arguement with his Professor about the best way to care for a farillian threetail snake.

Twenty minutes later the twins arrived. As soon as Jenna saw who had entered, she squealed and ran over to them. Giving both a deep kiss, she pulled them on a couch, snuggling between them. "Missed you."

George stroked her cheek. "Missed you too, princess."

"Oh please, you´re making me sick. Save it for another time will you?" Draco drawled. Fred smirked. He could hear that the Slytherin was only teasing.

"Jealous you haven´t got anyone to snuggle up with Draco?" Jenna responded cheekily before the redhead could tease back.

Draco huffed. "As if."

Luckily they were interrupted by the arrival of the food. Dinner became a lively affair. The three Gryffindors and two Slytherins tried to outwit each other with barbs, while the mood remained light. All delighted in the verbal sparring.

At a quarter to eight Jenna stood. "I´m going to the Tower. I still have some homework to do."

Fred looked up from the chessgame between his brother and Draco and waved his hand. "We´ll be there in an hour." George only grunted, keeping his concentration on the game. Draco didn´t react at all.

Master nodded. "I will walk you out."

Jenna shot him a thankful glance. As soon as they were out of hearing range of the Weasley´s and Draco, Jenna´s face turned serious. She set up a privacy ward and told her Master about the headaches and the feeling of danger she had felt, concluding with the blinding pain of this morning. Master listened carefully, his eyes unreadable. "I see. I will inform Professor Grahm of the problem. I think it best if you inform your Sire and the others as well. Maybe they can keep ears open for rumors about this danger. Keep your shields up at full force and tell me if you have more trouble."

"Yes Master" Jenna hurried away to carry out her tasks, leaving a worried Potions Master.

END CHAPTER FIFTEEN

NB. Why a puffin? Well, I love puffins. There, reason enough? By the way I doubt that anyone has used a puffin before as a patronusanimal. First I was going to use a Centaur, because they were the first ´storytellers´ but this sounded much more like Jenna.

For explanation by the way. Her Sire is her Vampire Sire.

Like? No like? Next chappie will be soon and much longer.


	17. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except for my character Jenaya Potter

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

_thoughts´_

"talking English"

°°Vampire language, also called Vampiric Mot°°

House-elf language, also called Gaëla

# Language of the Werewolves, also called Grawl #

_LAST CHAPTER_

_At a quarter to eight Jenna stood. "I´m going to the Tower. I still have some homework to do." _

_Fred looked up from the chessgame between his brother and Draco and waved his hand. "We´ll be there in an hour." George only grunted, keeping his concentration on the game. Draco didn´t react at all._

_Master nodded. "I will walk you out."_

_Jenna shot him a thankful glance. As soon as they were out of hearing range of the Weasley´s and Draco, Jenna´s face turned serious. She set up a privacy ward and told her Master about the headaches and the feeling of danger she had felt, concluding with the blinding pain of this morning. Master listened carefully, his eyes unreadable. "I see. I will inform Professor Grahm of the problem. I think it best if you inform your Sire and the others as well. Maybe they can keep ears open for rumors about this danger. Keep your shields up at full force and tell me if you have more trouble."_

"_Yes Master" Jenna hurried away to carry out her tasks, leaving a worried Potions Master._

December came quickly and Jenna had no more trouble with her scar. She had sent one of the House-Elves with a message for the Veela, Centaurs, Vampires and Goblins. Professor Grahm had informed the Werewolves. Still, it hadn´t worked. Nobody seemed to know about the rising danger.

At the moment even Jenna had other things to worry about. Like going to the Burrow.

Molly Weasley had thrown a fit when the twins announced they would come with their girlfriend or not at all. In the end she had invited Jenna along, despite the protests of Ginny, Percy and Ron. They youngest two in particular were dead against her, but that was probably because since they had attacked Jenna, the twins had made them daily victims of their pranks.

In the weeks following the attack, Ron had worn girls-clothes, had declared his love to Theodore Nott, had his hair transfigured into snakes and both his feet turned into left feet. Dean and Seamus were still glued together like siamese twins and none of the teachers knew how to separate them safely. Ginny had spent an hour crawling behind Filch imitating Mrs Norris, had her skin turning all the colours of the rainbow and had her thoughts projected above her head, which led to some very embarrassing moments. Those were only some of the twin´s revenge and they hadn´t endeared Jenna to the youngest Weasley´s at all.

Galen and Neville got the worst however. No matter how hard the teachers tried, they couldn´t keep up with the barrage of humiliating pranks that fell upon them. Throwing up slugs, coloured hair, vanishing clothes, spells going wrong, everything happened to them. Nobody was punished for the pranks because there was just no evidence and the teachers couldn´t understand what had happened to make the boys deserve the treatment. Based on experience the teachers thought that the Weasley twins would not do such harsh pranks. Their pranks had always been resonably gentle and designed to wear off quickly. The twins themselves never gave the teachers reason to believe their theory to be wrong.

The Weasley Matriarch was however not prepared to celebrate Christmas with her family incomplete and had given in. Fred and George would apparate ahead with the luggage and to have a quick talk with the family, mainly to try and get their parents to at least give Jenna a chance. Jenna herself would walk to Hogsmeade and floo from the Three Broomsticks.

The walk was nice in the cool winterweather. Jenna was dressed in a purple skirt and a tight black top, with a long leather trenchcoat over it. As always the black fingerless gloves and black boots completed the look. For once she had her dark red hair loose and it waved down to her calves gently. She looked absolutely stunning, at least according to Fred and George.

Humming under her breath, she let her boots crush the snow. She felt giddy with the thought that Fred and George wanted her to come with them to their home, but also anxious of the reaction of their family. This would be the first year she didn´t spend Christmas just with the House-Elves for company and she wanted it to be nice.

Looking back she saw she had made a trail through the virgin white snow. Laughing delighted she turned around and walked backwards towards the pub. Many people looked at her funny, because she walked backwards but Jenna didn´t care. She only reacted when she heard a sneering voice. "Potter, honestly what are you doing?"

Smiling brightly she saw Master looking at her, with Draco beside him. "Hullo Professor, Draco. Why, I´m walking backwards."

Master smirked. "As I gathered. Why is the question though."

Jenna grinned. "Isn´t that obvious? Now everybody who sees those tracks is going to think I walked to the Castle instead of to the town." Her eyes shone in mirth. "And if they follow the footsteps, they´ll see that about halfway there the direction of the prints changes. And then they´ll be really confused and won´t know for sure which I walked!" She ended triumphantly. (1)

Draco arched an eyebrow, but didn´t comment out of politenes. Master had no such qualms. "Indeed." He looked her up and down before continuing. "I believe the close contact with the Weasleytwins has meddled with your already weak brain."

Way too happy to get into an argument with her Master Jenna smiled broadly. "Thank you sir, that must be one of the nicest things you´ve ever said to me. Merry Christmas to you both, I´ll owl my presents!"

With that she walked on, still going backwards, leaving behind a grinning blond and a surprised Potions Master.

She found the Three Broomstick easily after all the directions her boys had given her. It was a nice and cozy pub, dark like the Leaky Cauldron but not as shabby. Nodding her approval, Jenna looked around for the floo.

Taking a deep breath to rule in the nervous fluttering in her stomach, Jenna threw the floo-powder in the fire. She stepped in and said clearly. "The Burrow."

After a dizzying ride, Jenna stumbled out of the fireplace. She had never enjoyed or been very graceful with floo-traveling. A hand on her arm prevented her from falling over. "Thanks." Jenna muttered, brushing the soot from her clothes.

Looking up at the person who still held her arm, she smiled. "Hi, I´m Jenna. You must be Charlie. It´s nice to meet you, I´ve heard a lot about you."

Charlie smiled back. He hadn´t been too sure about meeting this girl that so many people spoke bad of, but over the years he had learned that the twins were excellent judges of character. Now he found he agreed with them. There was something in the girl that made you feel good.

"Yeah, I´m Charlie. I´ve heard a lot about you as well, Jenna."

Jenna grimaced. "I bet you did."

Chuckling Charlie shook his head. "It wasn´t all negative. Two of my little brothers are crazy about you. That must mean something."

He got a soft smile in response. "Yeah, well. I don´t know what I´d do without Fred and George." Shaking herself out of her thoughts she asked. "Where are they anyway? I was told this house was always crowded."

"They´re still in the kitchen, talking to Mom and Dad ." Jenna looked a bit fearful, so Charlie tried to distract her. "Would you like to go outside to wait for Bill? He should be on the apparationpoint in fifteen minutes. I´ll leave a note for the twins so they know where we are."

Jenna nodded grateful. Charlie was everything Fred and George had told her, sweet and protective. The walk to the apparationpoint was ten minutes so Jenna struck up a conversation. "So, how do those dragons work out for you?"

Charlie grinned and started on a passionate speech about the different dragonspecies and how they worked with the magnificent animals. Jenna listened closely, she was always interested in learning more. She was in awe over the dedication Charlie showed to his work and his knowledge of the many species.

Before she knew it they were at the apparationpoint. They chose a rock to sit on, after a quick heating spell from Charlie. Jenna was just hearing about the new young dragonlings the colony had, when a deep voice interrupted Charlie with a chuckle.

"I don´t think the twins will appreciate it if you bore their girlfriend to death with your stories, Charles."

Charlie jumped up. "Bill! I didn´t even hear you. How long have you been there?"

Bill chuckled. "Why? Do you have something to hide, little bro?"

Rolling his eyes Charlie turned to Jenna. "Bill, I´d like you to meet Jenna. Jen, this is my brother Bill."

Jenna instantly recognised the man from the times she had watched the cursebreakers work at Gringotts. "Hi, nice to meet you." She stuck out her hand and felt relieved when the redhead took it immediately. Maybe he would be on her side like Charlie and the twins.

"You seem familiar. Have we met before?" Bill looked at her closely.

Shaken, Jenna tried to think of any way he might have seen her at Gringotts. She could come up with a few times, but tried to laugh off the question. "You do know that is the world´s worst pick-up line don´t you? Don´t worry about it, I´ll help you come up with something more original." She didn´t want him to know about the Goblins, hell even the twins didn´t know about her past yet.

Charlie snickered and Bill looked amused as well. "I guess I imagined it then." He cast one last thoughtful glance at her before adressing his brother. "Are the others here yet?"

"Nope, the twins are here, but Ron and Ginny wanted to take the train back with Galen Potter and the others so they´ll arrive soon. Percy took the train as well, because of Penelope and Dad isn´t home from the Ministry yet."

"Right, well let´s go. I want to see Mum and the twins." Bill announced happily.

The three walked back to the house in a sedated pace and were greeted by the twins sitting on the porch, looking gloomy. Their expressions cleared when they spotted their brothers and girlfriend.

"Bill! You…"

"made it here…"

"already. It´s"

"really good to"

"see you again." They finished together.

Bill grinned. "Hey there. I must say I am impressed with you for finding such a lovely girl. I just don´t understand why she puts up with the two of you."

Jenna blushed and looked down. On the way back she had found Bill very easy to talk to and she had a good time verbally sparring with him. George jumped up and slid his arm around her waist. "Watch it buster. She´s ours." He said mock threateningly.

Fred joined him on Jenna´s other side and linked his hand with her´s. "Yeah, and we´re planning on keeping her."

Jenna gaped. "You´re making me sound like a pet!"

Fred grinned. "You do make a wonderful kitten."

Jenna grinned maliciously. Inwardly she thanked the Weasley´s for having anti-detectorwards, meaning she could do magic without worrying about the Weasley´s becoming suspicious. And they would become suspicious if they realised Jenna didn´t have a monitoringspell on her wand and the Ministry couldn´t detect her. They didn´t know her wand came out of Knockturn Alley. They, along with everybody else, though Jenna was using the wand of her Grandfather. The one that James and Lily had given her, because they couldn´t be bothered to take her to Olivander´s. The one that Jenna wasn´t compatible with at all.

Right. Stupid them.

Three seconds later, Fred had a chicken´s beak instead of a mouth. "Shut up or I´ll pluck you." Jenna growled.

The other redheads grinned and even Fred looked on in mirth. "I think you have found your match guys." Bill commented grinning. "Anyway I´m going to say hi to mom. She in the kitchen?"

Suddenly the twins looked depressed again. "Yeah, she´s in the kitchen."

Jenna looked at them with a question in her eyes. She sighed when they nodded. "Do I even stand a chance?" She asked softly.

George looked at her sadly. "We were doing well and she was really going to give you a chance, but then Ron and Ginny came home. They heard us defending you and went on a rant about all you had done. They made up more than half of it! When Percy joined them, she made up her mind."

"So…now what? She´s going to send me away or what."

Fred shook his head. "We said we would leave if you did, so she will let you stay. But.." He trailed off.

Looking at the twins´ expressions, Jenna tried to fight her panic. "But what, Fred?"

"But she invited the Potters here as well for Christmasday, because Ron said it would only be fair if Galen could come here as well." He ended in a resigned voice.

Jenna choked. Her face paled to deathly white. She had counted on not seeing James for an entire year. Her fear of Galen was slowly deminishing, even if it had skyrocketed after the attack, but nobody could protect her from James. "NO. No I don´t want to see them. I´ll go back to Hogwarts, it doesn´t matter. I´ll see you guys after Christmas."

Charlie and Bill listened to the conversation in confusion. When the girl suddenly looked terrified they leaped into action.

"Hey, don´t worry Jen. We won´t let anyone ruin our holiday. Just avoid anyone you don´t like." Charlie coaxed.

"Yeah, besides you wouldn´t want to miss our company this Christmas now would you?" Bill asked cheekily.

Jenna gave a shaky smile, trying to regain her composure. If she wanted to leave she would have to explain why and she wasn´t ready for Charlie and Bill to know about her family. "N-no, I wouldn´t want that."

"Great, I really want to get to know you a bit better. From what I´ve heard you´re almost part of the family already." Bill winked and strolled into the house, ignoring the girl´s red face. He grinned to himself, she already had the Weasley blush down to an art.

Trying to calm her burning cheeks, Jenna looked up when George tightened his hold on her. "You ready to face the family, princess?"

She laughed nervously. "Yeah, I mean what´s the worst they can do? Though I might want to get rid of that before your Mom kills me." Looking at Fred she waived her wand, making his face loose the chickenbeak in favour of his normal mouth.

Fred only squeezed her hand in comfort and the three Weasley brothers led their guest into the Burrow. Molly Weasley was alone in the kitchen, wearing an apron covered in flour. She was hugging her oldest fiercely before checking him over. As usual she began to fuss over his long hair and that he was too skinny. She was about to start a new rant, this time about finding a nice girlfriend when she was interrupted.

"Mom, we would…"

"like you to meet…"

"our girlfriend…"

"Jenna Potter."

Forcing her face in a polite mask, Molly turned to the voices. She had heard a lot about this child and wasn´t very pleased with most. She didn´t condone her twin boys having a relationship with this girl, but when she had mentioned that they had blown up. Apparantly now was not the time to try and force them apart.

Molly took in the small girl in her dark but elegant clothing and couldn´t help but be surprised. From Ron and Ginny´s descriptions she had envisioned an ugly, malicious girl, but instead found the girl to be very innocent and sweetlooking. She could understand her sons´ attractions to the girl.

Still that didn´t mean anything. Molly knew as well as anyone that looks were deceiving, especially in the wizarding world. Holding out a hand she said evenly. "Pleasure to meet you Jenna. I´m Molly Weasley."

Jenna gave a short curtesy and shook the hand lightly, deciding to follow pureblood customs. "The pleasure is mine Lady Weasley. May the Holy Magic bless your family."

Taken aback at the formal curtesy, Molly blinked. "…And yours."

The conversation was cut off when Ron and Ginny came thundering down the stairs. They glared at the guest and then promptly ignored her in favour of greeting their oldest brothers. Jenna gave a sigh and leaned back in George´s arms. That had gone as well as could be expected.

When she thought back to it later, Jenna could only conclude that her first stay at the Burrow had been awkward. It was obvious Mrs Weasley was confused by the many contradictory stories about her, and had opted to always be polite but keep her distance from her guest as mush as possible.

Mr Weasley was a goodnatured man and he seemed to like his shy guest, but he wasn´t at the house very often. He was too busy with his work to notice many other things. The children all had devided opinions of her, but had to keep negative comments to themselves when their parents were around. As a result all conversation at dinner consisted of forced polite comments and tense silence. Very tiring indeed.

While Percy holed himself up in his room and didn´t give Jenna much grief, Ron and Ginny were horrible. After a few harsh words from their oldest brother they kept their taunts quiet till he was out of hearingrange. In response Bill spent a lot of his time with Jenna and the twins. Charlie joined them often in their walks over the Weasley land and through their forest.

Though the Weasley´s were a poor family they still had a large amount of land. It was their familyland and it could never be owned by a person not bearing the Weasley name as long as there was still a Weasley alive. That was the way all the properties of pureblooded wizarding families worked.

And the Weasley acres held some of the most beautiful places in Britain.

During those walks the four brothers and Jenna talked about everything and anything. Jenna soon lost her initial shyness and joked around with them as she had done in Hogwarts. Bill and Charlie unknowingly helped her build up her selfconfidence from the blow it had received from Galen´s attack.

In return, Bill and Charlie were delighted to find a babysister to dote on. They had Ginny of course, but Ginny had changed. Because she was the first girl in the Weasley line she was given new clothes more often than the boys and generally got her way more often. But she was also more protected by her family. A few years ago she had enough and she had drawn away from her overprotective oldest brothers in an effort to prove she didn´t need them. She was determined to get out of their shadow.

Instead she started spending more time with Ron, who in her eyes was her equal. By the time Bill, Charlie and Percy had discovered their mistake in the way they acted towards their sister, it was too late. Ginny had convinced herself she could handle everything herself and blew up if Bill, Charlie, Percy or even the twins offered their help in something. Only Ron could reach her, but often Ginny disregarded him. She knew he was no longer her equal, she had outgrown him. Ron didn´t notice her contempt though.

In Jenna, Bill and Charlie saw a second chance. They knew she could handle herself and took care not to smother her, but they liked spending time with her. She was always in for a joke, but was just as content to read a nice book or to lie in the sun for a while.

Jenna sat down in what she had claimed as her spot. She sighed happily when she felt the sunbeams caress her skin. Although it was December, today was a sunny day. She lay there baking in the sun when suddenly she was grabbed from behind and swung over a strong shoulder. She squealed in surprise. "George what are you…"

George grinned and slapped her but, receiving an indignant squeak in protest. "You looked like you could cool down a bit. Too much baking isn´t good for you, ya know."

Jenna´s eyes grew wide when she saw were he was carrying her. "NO. Don´t you dare…It´s freezing. Don´t you…Aaagh" It was too late because at that moment George dumped her into the ice-cold water of the lake.

Spluttering Jenna surfaced. She glared her deadliest glare at the laughing Weasley´s as she crawled on the shore. "George, it´s winter! Why the hell…Merlin this is cold."

Her teeth started chattering when the Decemberwind blew through her wet clothes. Bill noticed and shot a stern glance at the twins. George pulled out a thick blanket from his backpack and wrapped it around her shaking body. "Sorry love. Couldn´t resist." He said innocently.

George looked distinctly uncomfortable at the gleam in Jenna´s eye. "In that case I should make sure that you will resist temptation the next time." Before she had even finished her sentence, Jenna gave George an almighty shove.

As was her intention, George landed in the lake. Smiling sweetly she said "Wouldn´t want you to get too hot now would we?"

Laughing she ran away to hide behind Bill when George had made it out of the water. Fred smirked and helped his twin in catching her. Jenna squeaked at the evil looks she was given."Help! Bill call them off."

"I would if I could." Bill smirked. He was unprepared for the magical push that landed him in the lake. When he surfaced he saw Jenna standing there smugly with her wand out. "Fine. If you´re not with me, you´re against me."

She took off when the twins once again tried to catch her and fled to Charlie. "You better help me, buster." Jenna growled.

Charlie nodded with a grin and tried to stop the twin tornadoes. Five minutes later he splashed into the cold water as well, pulling Fred with him.

In the end Jenna ended up in the lake again, unable to withstand the assault of four united Weasley brothers. The shivering young adults all huddled together after their wrestle party. Bill spelled everybody dry and charmed the blankets with a heatingcharm to get rid of the chilly feeling.

Jenna sank in Fred´s arms and sighed happily.

"You okay, baby?" George asked while his hand traced patterns on Jenna´s stomach.

"Yeah. I love it here. Thanks for convincing me to come." She smiled at him.

George gave her a lopsided grin. "Any time, love."

END CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Well, it was updated fast wasn´t it? Wasn´t as long as I´d like to though. Ah well, can´t have everything.

NB. (1) I get such a kick out of doing that. Yes yes I know it is silly.

If anybody was confused about the wands here is a recap: Jenna uses the wand from Knockturn Alley without a monitoringcharm, everybody else thinks that is the wand from her Grandfather because nobody pays close enough attention to it. And if anyone did, they still wouldn´t suspect anything because who would know what her Grandfather´s wand looked like?


	18. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except for my character Jenaya Potter

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

_thoughts´_

"talking English"

°°Vampire language, also called Vampiric Mot°°

House-elf language, also called Gaëla

# Language of the Werewolves, also called Grawl #

LAST CHAPTER

_She took off when the twins once again tried to catch her and fled to Charlie. "You better help me, buster." Jenna growled. _

_Charlie nodded with a grin and tried to stop the twin tornadoes. Five minutes later he splashed into the cold water as well, pulling Fred with him._

_In the end Jenna ended up in the lake again, unable to withstand the assault of four united Weasley brothers. The shivering young adults all huddled together after their wrestle party. Bill spelled everybody dry and charmed the blankets with a heatingcharm to get rid of the chilly feeling. _

_Jenna sank in Fred´s arms and sighed happily._

"_You okay, baby?" George asked while his hand traced patterns on Jenna´s stomach._

"_Yeah. I love it here. Thanks for convincing me to come." She smiled at him._

_George gave her a lopsided grin. "Any time, love."_

Jenna looked at the objects in Fred´s hands dubiously. "Are you sure? I´m not exactly the best flyer. I don´t need extra reasons to get knocked off my broom."

Fred just grinned. "C´mon kitten, we can´t play Quidditch without bludgers. You´ll be fine, you had us as teachers after all."

Rolling her eyes, Jenna nodded. "Fine, but if it goes wrong I expect you to nurse me back to health."

She mounted her borrowed Cleansweep and carefully rose into the air. Bill, Charlie and the twins had decided they wanted to play a game of Quidditch and Jenna had to play along. She had learned how to fly on a broom only a short time earlier and she still wasn´t quite comfortable in the air.

Nevertheless they convinced her and now she was teamed up with Bill and Fred, against Charlie and George.

Because of their small number there were no seekers or beaters, only chasers. The keeper would be whoever was closest to the goalhoops at that time. Fred had insisted upon using bludgers, since they didn´t really need beaters to keep going and it would spice up the game a bit.

"Ya ready, tiny?" Bill yelled. He and Charlie had taken to calling her ´tiny´, ´little one´ or more often ´imp´ because of her petite frame. Jenna didn´t mind all that much. She knew she was small.

"Yeah. As ready as I´ll ever be."

Fred released the bludgers and rose with the Quaffle. He flew past Charlie quickly and passed the red ball to Bill. Bill caught it and threw it to Jenna, who was closest to the opposing goalhoops.

Jenna sped up a little trying to catch the ball, but she was too late. Charlie easily intercepted and flew off with it. Before meeting the twins, Jenna would have blushed and started apologising, but now she just laughed and flew after the ball. It was only a game and the others wouldn´t be mad at her. They knew she wasn´t a very good player yet.

Three attempts later she had finally caught a pass. "LOOK!" She squealed. "Look, I caught it!"

The boys chuckled at her obvious delight. "Well done, love, but we want to play on." George grinned.

Jenna huffed. "That´s easy for you to say. I´m still having trouble staying on the broom."

"I guess we have to do something about that then." Charlie grinned. He flew up to his almost-sister and held out his hand. "Do you want a lift?" The Weasley´s always jumped on each other´s brooms during games, it was a sport of sorts.

Jenna´s eyes went wide and a cold feeling spread through her body. He wanted her to change broomsticks at 30 feet in the air?

When Charlie saw the ill-disguised fear in Jenna´s eyes he became serious. "You can trust me, Jenna. I won´t let you fall, I promise."

Jenna scanned the brown eyes in front of her, looking for any sign of deceit. She couldn´t find it, so she slowly reached for the offered hand. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the other three boys fly under her. She sighed relieved. They really wouldn´t let her fall.

She blinked startled at the thought. Her fierce protection of her heart had easily been pierced by Fred and George, and now Bill and Charlie had done the same. She wondered idly if it was a Weasley thing, but that thought was quickly rejected by thinking of Percy, Ron and Ginny.

Anyway´ Jenna thought to herself that theory couldn´t be right as Draco isn´t a Weasley.´

Again she pulled a screeching stop on her thoughts. Since when was the blonde a part of her heart? Jenna didn´t let people in easily, having been hurt too many times. Before, her heart only held a few of the magical beings like her vampiric mentor Xele and her Sire. But now she had to admit to herself she also had a soft spot for the Slytherin.

Still, she was certain neither these four Weasley´s nor Draco would let her down. A big grin formed on her face. She grabbed Charlie´s hand and let herself be pulled onto his broom.

Bill mock growled. "How dare you, li´l one? You´re joining the opposing team!"

Jenna laughed. "I joined the winning side, Bill, or haven´t you noticed we were behind almost seventy points?"

The rest of the game passed in a haze of laughter and racing. After a few minutes, Jenna had relaxed enough for Charlie to start racing and she loved it. She knew she could depend on him to keep her safe.

When Mrs Weasley called that dinner was ready, they flew down tired but in high spirits.

"Wipe your feet and wash your hands, dearies." Mrs Weasley admonished when the five sweaty people came in. They obeyed and sat down, joined by the rest of the Weasley clan. Mrs Weasley served a magnificent Sheppards Pie, much to everone´s delight. When everyone was munching away happily she said. "Tomorrow we´re going to Diagon Alley to buy Christmas presents. We´ll leave at nine, to avoid the crowds."

Jenna grinned at Fred and George. Diagon Alley was always a treat.

The next morning Jenna was nearly bouncing in hyperactive excitement in front of the fireplace. She had been to Diagon Alley a few times with Master, but this time she wouldn´t have to go from apothecary to another boring shop, followed by a trip to…that´s right, another apothecary.

No, this time she could go to Gringotts and collect the money she had earned while working for the Goblins the last three years and buy Christmaspresents! It gave Jenna a warm glow as she thought of the number of gift she had to buy. She had gained so many friends in a few months. Fred, George, Bill, Charlie, Draco…Jenna frowned for a second. Would she have enough money to buy them all something? Shrugging it off as a problem for later, Jenna returned to her bouncing, nearly knocking Ginny over.

"Sorry there." Jenna chirped.

Ginny shot her a deadly glare, but Jenna didn´t let it bother her. She was too happy to let her mood be spoiled by a bratty child.

Mrs Weasley bustled forward. "I will go first. Percy you´re next, then Bill, Fred, George, Jenna, Ron, Ginny and then you Charlie." With that she stepped into the flames and threw the floopowder, saying clearly. "Diagon Alley."

Percy, Bill and the twins followed quickly. But when it was Jenna´s turn, Ginny decided to pay Jenna back for bumping into her earlier. While Jenna was speaking the name of her destination, Ginny gave her a hard shove in the back, causing Jenna to stumble over her words in her surprise. "Diagahhon Alley."

As soon as she started spinning, Jenna knew she wouldn´t arrive where she wanted. It was a bumpy ride and when she finally fell out of a fireplace, Jenna had to take a minute to pull herself together. Warily she looked around. The dark room she was in, was a bit familiar. She couldn´t recall it right away, but when she did Jenna cursed mentally.

Borgin and Burkes.

_Bloody hell. I ended up in Knockturn Alley. Good thing Master taught me how to deal with people like this, or I would have been toast.´_ Jenna stood up and drew herself up to her full hight. With a quick spell, her clothes were immaculate and she strode off towards the door with a regal air around her. _´Just think Slytherin. Think Slytherin.´_

Mr Borgin looked at her surprised, but didn´t say anything to Jenna´s relief. She was about to congratulate herself on a well gone plan when she caught sight of someone. Or actually two someones. Draco Malfoy walked besides a dangerous-looking man. He had long platinum hair and a sneer on his face. He wore elegant black robes and a cane with a silver snake´s head. It ticked everytime it made contact with the ground.

Jenna knew she was spotted when, after an exchange of words with Draco, the man headed in her direction, a nervous looking Draco behind him. She knew there was no escape so instead of walking off, she lifted her chin a bit and waited calmly for the two men to reach her.

Tick…

Tick…

Tick…

With a final Tick, the cane came to a stop in front of Jenna.

"Ms Potter, I presume?" Mr Malfoy said coolly, his eyes raking over her body and taking in every detail.

Jenna knew enough of the man before her to be wary. Master had given her lessons on all the Death Eaters he could remember from his spying days. He wanted her to be prepared for attacks, because the name Potter had many of those as enemies. Malfoy was very, very high on the danger list.

Letting her eyes adjust to see Malfoy´s aura, Jenna almost gagged. The swirling magic was entirely black and looked slimy. It wasn´t free magic either. A big purple tendril was intwined through the magic and it chained the mass to something too far away for Jenna to see. That something clearly had some control over Malfoy´s magic. It was easy to guess what the magic was locked to. Or better who the magic was locked to. Lord Voldemort.

It worried her to see the strand pulsing with life. If Voldemort was dead it should have been broken, but it wasn´t.

Suddenly Jenna felt very, very stupid.

The rising danger she had felt, the pounding headaches and the feeling of evil that had make her head split open in pain. It was all Voldemort. Why hadn´t she realised that before? It was so logical.

Her first instinct was to run to Master to tell him of her discovery, but at the same she realised that was also a stupid thought. Of course Master already knew or at least suspected the situation. He must have felt his own connection heat up.

But he had known before that, hadn´t he? "_Dark times are coming. We must prepare."_ That was always his explanation for the heavy weapontraining and combat tactics. He had known. And so had all the others who taught her. She was being trained for a real war and she hadn´t even seen it.

Jenna felt adrenaline rush through her body as she looked at the man in front of her. A situation that, seconds ago, had only seemed a bit dangerous was now a meeting with a very real and very deadly enemy. Because there was no doubt in her mind that was what he was, or would be soon.

_Think Slytherin, be Slytherin.´_ Her mantra gave her the strength to keep her face from showing anything as she made polite a curtesy. "Lord Malfoy. It is a pleasure to meet you. May the Holy Magic bless your family."

_´Master would have been proud´ _Jenna thought sarcastically. _´Those last words didn´t even sound forced.´_

Malfoy seemed vaguely pleased with the response. "Yes, and yours too. May I inquire to what brings you to this part of town?"

Jenna smiled tightly. "You may. I may not answer though."

Something flashed in Malfoy´s eyes. "I see."

Desperate to make an escape, Jenna smiled politely. "I must be off though. If you will excuse me. Lord Malfoy, Malfoy." She nodded to both in turn. She didn´t miss the little relaxation of Draco´s posture when she adressed him by his last name, instead of the first, which implied that they were friends. He wanted to keep their growing friendship a secret from his father as well.

"It was good to see you." With that Jenna gave a short bow and walked away elegantly, careful not to turn her back on the two completely. Not only would that be a breach of etiquette, it would also be a totally stupid move to leave herself so unprotected. She walked to one of the many unmarked doors in the Alley, still feeling the heavy stares following her.

Thanking her lucky stars that she actually knew this part of the Alley, Jenna walked through the door, into a small hall and knocked on the second door from the right. It opened to reveal a pale, brownhaired man.

"What´s this? Go away little girl. This is no place for you." He boomed at her.

Annoyed that this stupid excuse for a vampire hadn´t noticed her Sire´s bite on her and still coming down from the adrenaline, Jenna snarled back in perfect Vampiric Mot. °°How dare you talk to me like this? Let me in this instant or my Sire will hear of it!°°

Taken aback the doorman took a tentative sniff. Immediately his eyes widened as he recognised the smell of the High Prince. He had insulted a Childe, _the_ Childe, of the High Prince! In an effort to control the damage he bared his neck. A sure sign of submission. °° I apologise, Childe of the High Prince. May your blood flow richly.°°

°°Yes, yes and yours as well. Now let me in. I have business to attend to.°° Jenna sneered. She knew she was being irrationally rude, but she just couldn´t help it. The run in with Malfoy and her epiphany about the Dark Lord had shaken her badly.

The vampire didn´t seem to mind, relieved as he was that he had not been punished. As a Childe of the Royal line she had immense power over a common soldier like him. He held open the door and Jenna stepped into a familiar pub.

Her eyes scanned the room until the met those of the one she was hoping to see. Maxoda Xele sat in her usual spot in the corner nursing an exotic drink. Jenna shivered at the thought what was in there. While she liked her Sire´s blood, Jenna had no appetite for human or other vampire´s blood. Xele did and she wasn´t averse to some internal organs in it.

Xele´s eyes lit up when they met those of her former student. °°Look what the cat dragged in. You look mighty unhappy, Jenaya.°°

Jenna felt her tense muscles relax a bit at the familiarity of the situation. How often had she not sat here with Xele after a hard night of training? °°Just had a meeting with the esteemed Lord Malfoy. Not too pleased about it.°° Jenna sneered.

Her friend hummed her agreement. °°Never liked that one either. Too arrogant.°°

°°And you´re not?°° Jenna snorted. °°No, don´t answer that.°° She broke off a smirking Xele before she could reply.

She sank down on a chair across from the vampiress. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the door to the pub open to reveal the blonde man she was trying to avoid. Draco wasn´t with him. It wasn´t a regular occurrence to see a wizard here, but they weren´t banned from the Vampire bar. °°Shit. That asshole followed me. I really don´t want another meeting, especially here. Too many stupid vamps who could accidentally let something slip about my connection to the High Prince.°° Jenna sighed in relief when Malfoy headed towards the bar first to talk with the bartender. Probably to ask about her, but Jenna knew the Bartender wouldn´t say anything. She had known Harper long enough to know he wouldn´t out her.

Still she had to do something.

Xele smirked in agreement. °°Not a good idea no. How about we have a little fun? You could escape in the chaos?°°

Jenna glanced around at the other customers in the pub. Fights here were regular business and generally well liked amusement. All vampires had a need for violence and Jenna´s vampirebond had made her feel the same, though in a smaller degree. She could feel her own fingers itching and smirked back. It was the perfect way to get away from Malfoy and release some of her frustrations at the same time. Her vampireblood would heal her in no time so the Weasley´s never had to find out.

°°Let´s.°°

Xele grinned, showing her pointy teath. °°I knew there was a reason I liked you.°°

With matching smirks the two woman slid out of the dark corner and each punched the vampire closest to them. As expected the two assaulted men attacked back with vigor. Jenna swiftly pulled out the dagger she always hid in her boot and sliced her opponent over the cheek. Grinning darkly he swung an arm with very sharp nails at her, but she ducked in time. Instead of hitting Jenna, the vampire´s nails wounded the vampire sitting behind Jenna. The new vampire let out a howl of pain and anger. In his fury he threw the table he was sitting at, aside, in turn angering the other vampires at his table. Withing a minute almost everybody was pulled into the fight and Jenna let a satisfied look cross her face. Riling up vampires was so bloody easy. Pumping with energy she threw herself in the fighting mass of vampires.

Despite her vampire blood, Jenna wasn´t as strong as her opponents and tired comparatively quickly. She jumped out of the way of a boot that was heading her way and bumped into Xele. Breathing heavily after 40 minutes of intense fighting she called out. °°Where´s Malfoy?°°

The Maxoda called back with a broad smile. °°I think he´s quite occupied at the moment. He accidentally hit Harper when he tried to leave. Harper didn´t appreciate it. You wanna go?°°

°°Yeah, I´ve had enough fun for today.°° Jenna grinned back.

°°Alright then.°° Together they fought their way to the door, where the doorman this time very respectfully let them out.

Outside, Jenna inspected her wounds. She had a broken arm and a lot of shallow claw and dagger marks. Not too bad for a fight this long. Xele wasn´t off much worse. A trail of blood ran from her red spiky hair down her face and she had bruises and cuts everywhere.

°°That was fun.°° Xele grinned.

°°Hmmm.°° Jenna nodded in agreement. °°But I should be getting back to the Weasley´s. They took me to Diagon Alley today, but I ended up here. It has been almost an hour, so I better get back before they really start to worry.°°

°°Good idea. Too bad you can´t stay any longer though. The pubs haven´t been the same without you there to cause trouble. That fight in the Red Dragon was marvellous.°°

Jenna blushed. °°That wasn´t even on purpose. I mean how was I supposed to know that guy had an invisible pet besides his chair? He should have warned me, then I wouldn´t have stepped on it.°°

Xele let out a peal of laughter. °°Only you Jenna. Only you.°° She calmed down enough to reach into her coat and pulled out a vial. °°Here is the stuff you had asked for, by the way. I´ve been carrying it around for weeks. I finally found that stupid snake. Getting him to give his venom wasn´t easy, but now we´re even right?°°

Smiling happily Jenna put the vial in her bag. °°Yeah we´re even. Just don´t ever forget my birthday again.°°

°°I won´t, I won´t. Now beat it. I´m going to see if the fight is still going on. Haven´t really had enough excitement the last two weeks.°°

Nodding, Jenna walked to the exit of Knockturn. Before she entered Diagon she checked her wounds and broken arm once more. They had all healed. A quick charm took care of the ripped fabric of her clothes.

Thinking it over for a second, Jenna mindsang to one of the House-elves of Hogwarts. Polly popped in front of her with a smile. Yes Ilka?

Please give this to Professor Snape as soon as possible, Polly. It is important. Jenna scribbled a discription of her meeting with Malfoy and her suspicions on a piece of paper. Master probably already knew, but she still had to report.

Polly popped away, nodding happily.

Jenna took a deep breath and stepped into the bright shopping Alley.

END CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

N.B. I know you were expecting the Potter´s in this chapter, but the trip to Diagon Alley just gave too many opportunities to ignore. I wanted Xele to be introduced personally instead of hearsay and intend to do something like that with all the magical races. From every race there will be one of two important characters who will make an appearance every now and then. It makes it a bit more interesting, I think.

If you want I can make a short list about who belongs in which race, but they haven´t been introduced all, so tell me if you need it.

Anyway, I decided to explain a little more about the Vampire society for anyone who has forgotten. (I only mentioned it shortly in chapter five or something. So here´s the recap.) There are two groups, the Rama and the Rogues. The Rama are the majority and are a true society, while the Rogues are outcasts, refusing the strict rule of the Rama, who are hunted by the Rama because of that.

The Rama is built on ranks. From high to low:

**The Royal Family**: High Prince Vladozan is Jenna´s Sire, so she is part of this group.

**Guardians**: Argivlo was one of Jenna´s teachers, and she learned from Mikkoas well. (He´s not important.)

**Maxoda**: Xele is a Maxoda and Jenna´s first Vampire teacher.

**Prefores **

**Sarem:** Haper, the bartender is a Sarem. (Not that it really matters, but still…)

**Common soldiers**: Someone like the doorman was a Common soldier.

Next chapter will have a bit of Potter action in it, but will mostly be the rest of the shopping trip. It became too long to keep in one chapter (about 6500 words) so I split it up. Hope you liked it anyway.


	19. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except for my character Jenaya Potter

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

_thoughts´_

"talking English"

°°Vampire language, also called Vampiric Mot°°

House-elf language, also called Gaëla

# Language of the Werewolves, also called Grawl #

/Language of the Goblins, also called Gobbledegook/

LAST CHAPTER 

_Nodding, Jenna walked to the exit of Knockturn. Before she entered Diagon she checked her wounds and broken arm once more. They had all healed. A quick charm took care of the ripped fabric of her clothes._

_Thinking it over for a second, Jenna mindsang to one of the House-elves of Hogwarts. Polly popped in front of her with a smile. Yes Ilka?_

_Please give this to Professor Snape as soon as possible, Polly. It is important. Jenna scribbled a discription of her meeting with Malfoy and her suspicions on a piece of paper. Master probably already knew, but she still had to report._

_Polly popped away, nodding happily. _

_Jenna took a deep breath and stepped into the bright shopping Alley._

In Diagon Alley Jenna didn´t have to look long to find the redheads. Mrs Weasley was looking around frantically. She had heard from Charlie how Ginny had disrupted Jenna´s floo-travel and she was furious with her youngest. She knew Ginny didn´t like the young Potter very much, but this was far too dangerous to be considered a joke. When her eye caught the missing girl she let out a sigh of relief.

"There you are! We were worried you had gone to a fireplace far away." Mrs Weasley couldn´t help herself and she hugged the girl with all her might. Jenna was only a child and needed comfort right now. "You must have been so scared. I sent Ginny back home because of her horrible behavior. Are you alright? You´re not hurt are you?"

Jenna smiled easily, a bit shocked with the suddenly warm attitude of the woman. "It´s alright, ma´am. I just ended up a little further ahead. No problem."

"If you´re sure?" Mrs Weasley said uncertainly.

"Yeah. I think we should start shopping." Jenna said with a smile. The older woman smiled back. ´_Maybe, just maybe she´ll grow to like me´_ Jenna thought.

Fred and George used the entire walk to Gringotts to make fun of the floo-incident, but Jenna wasn´t angry with them. This was just their way of reacting to the scare. Bill had looked at her worriedly and let his eyes flash back to the dark Alley where he alone had seen her emerge from. Jenna shook her head almost unperceptably and Bill nodded back. He understood she didn´t want him to tell the others where exactly she had ended up. They would only worry.

He did make sure to keep an eye on her while they walked on. Satisfied to see her neither limping nor giving any indication she was hiding an injury, Bill turned to talk to Charlie about his plans for the rest of the holidays.

Inside the white marble wizardingbank Jenna looked around. She had to be very careful now. The Goblins had strict rules with regards to their children. When she had accepted the mark she had been adopted by a goblin named Mapplegob. He was seen as her father in the community, and was as such the only one who could touch her. If any of the other Goblins did, they would be killed or worse. The other Goblins were not allowed to speak to her either, unless they had been given permission by Mapplegob, or if they were superiors of Mapplegob.

At the moment there were only seven goblins who could speak to her, besides Mapplegob. The ones who got their right from their superiority were the Chief Warrior Ragnok and his four Senior Warriors. Ragnok was the leader of the Goblin race, the Senior Warriors were his advisors. The ones that had been given permission by Mapplegob were called Griphook and Tanner.

To Jenna´s horror she couldn´t see Tanner or Griphook at any of the desks. The others who she could communicate with were too high-ranking to be deskworkers, so she didn´t even look for them. She sighed annoyed. Now she had to find a way to get to her vault without talking to any of the Goblins here. That would surely seem weird to the Weasley´s, not to mention very difficult because she had to give her vaultnumber.

As she neared one of the desks, trailing behind the Weasley´s, she saw the Goblin there look at her with surprise that was quickly covered as he immediately averted his eyes. He bent down and whispered something in the ear of his assistant. The assistant sped away and the desk Goblin looked at Mrs Weasley with an expression of disdain.

"Yes?"

Mrs Weasley, used to the way Goblins treated their clients, replied calmly. "I would like to visit the Weasley Vault. Here is the key." She handed over a small gold key.

The goblin nodded. "Very well. Do Misters Weasley wish to enter their Vaults as well?" Bill and Charlie shook their heads. They had gathered their own money in new Vaults, but they didn´t have to refill their pouches now. They had enough on them.

Percy, Fred, George and Ron didn´t have their own Vaults yet so they shook their heads as well. To the Weasley´s surprise the Goblin made no effort to ask for Jenna´s key or vault. In fact he ignored her completely.

Bill looked at Jenna strangely. He had worked with the Goblins for a long time and he had never seen them act like this to any of the customers. Something strange was going on.

Just then the assistant came back, followed by a new Goblin. The new Goblin spoke evenly. "Mrs Weasley please follow me. Your sons may wait here. Does the young Miss wish to visit a Vault as well?"

Jenna smiled. "Yes I would like to visit Vault 986 please."

For once she was happy that Gobbledegook, the language of the Goblins was mostly in hand signs and bodylanguage. While that made it one of the most difficult languages to learn, it was nearly undetectable by anyone that didn´t know it. Now, eight years after she first started to learn Jenna still wasn´t fluent in it, but today that didn´t matter. What she knew was enough.

Unnoticed by any of the other humans she signed. /Thank you Griphook. I was worried./

"Very well. Follow me." Griphook led his group to the cart, meanwhile signing back. /No problem. Warrior Mapplegob would have killed me if I hadn´t stepped in./

The ride was as always fast and nauseating. Jenna didn´t have much trouble with it. She had used the carts so often she was no longer affected by the speed or the sharp turns. Molly didn´t share her view and was green when they finally stopped. "Vault 986. Key please."

Griphook opened the Vault that showed a small pile gold and a few sickles. Jenna proudly swept up the money she had earned herself. James and Lily had barred her from using her trustfund for anything not schoolrelated and even then only in small amounts. They knew nothing about the money Jenna had earned by working for her Goblinfather.

Molly didn´t say anything about the meagre amount of money, but her eyebrows rose. Surely the young Potter had more money than that? Her family was rich!

After a quick visit to the Weasley Vault they made their way back to the surface. Jenna signed as she left. /Bye Griphook. Give my regards to my father./

Before she could read Griphook´s answer she was bustled away by Molly.

The rest of the day was uneventful. Jenna had found the time to pop into Madame Malkin´s store, unnoticed by the Weasley´s, for a quick hello and to pick up Master´s new clothes. She liked the stubborn woman who always had a kind word ready. Jenna respected her deeply, because although most of the world didn´t know it, Mirabel Malkin had done something very impressive.

When she first opened her shop, Mirabel had welcomed a very easily irritated client. Undaunted by the sneering exterior of the man, she had talked to her client amiably while she fitted him his first teacher´s robes. Knowing his love for potions she had manipulated the then young Professor into a conversation about different sorts of ingredients. The man left the shop sneering like usual, but a few months later he was back for some additional robes. Again Mirabel started a conversation and this time it was easier to guide him in the friendly banter. Over time, Mirabel came to appreciate the man´s wit and he toned down his worst bite around her.

After that Mirabel introduced him to her dear friend Roger Fortesque, the owner of the Ice parlor a few door down the street. Roger´s brisk and straightforward attitude were refreshing for a man who lived his life by lies and manipulations.

Severus, Mirabel and Roger. As unlikely as it had seemed, it worked. They became friends, although not many people knew that. They were the only humans Severus had told about his Apprentice. And both had taken a liking to the girl.

So when Jenna asked for her Master´s clothers, Mirabel wasn´t surprised. She just smiled and collected the robes Severus had ordered, slightly sad he could not come to see her himself. She watched amusedly as the child called a house-elf and instructed the little thing to bring the clothes to the Potions Master´s room. Then the child darted away with a smile thrown back over her shoulder, towards a gaggle of redheads in the middle of the street. Mirabel shook her head, threw one last amused look at the happily bouncing girl and went back to work.

Jenna walked tiredly out of the Owl-post office, sparing a small glance to the flock of birds flying in different directions to deliver her presents. She was exhausted and she still had one present left to buy, but she had no idea what to choose. Most of the day had been satisfying though. After a while of windowshopping with the boys, she had gone off alone to buy her Christmas presents for this year.

In one of the oddities shops she had found a collection of beautiful magical stones. Aware of her tight budget she had bought it and split it up to send it to her magical beings friends. The stones all had the same protectioncharms on them and had a hole in them so they could be attached to a necklace, only the colours were different. Of course the bloodred one was for Xele and Jenna had chose the black one for Vivian from the Werewolves. Her Veela friends Umara and Mella got a pink and orange one respectevely, the yellow/gold one went to Mapplegob and a green, blue, purple and clear one were for Frazzel, Tinky, Mipsy and Dobby. Alpha Grahm got the last one, a pale white one that vaguely reminded Jenna of the moon.

For Master she didn´t have to buy anything. The vial of snakevenom she had collected from Xele was for him. She hadn´t known how to get her hands on this venom, that Master had talked about so wistfully. Then Xele had forgotten Jenna´s birthday and Jenna had seen the perfect opportunity for blackmail.

Patting the little vial in her coat, Jenna grinned. She wanted to give in person, so she had only sent a note to Master explaining her gift would come later. There was no way she was giving up the chance to see Master´s face when he saw what his present was!

After some consideration she had decided to send to Draco a list of her dreams for the future. It was a pureblood custom to sent something personal if you wanted to build a friendship and it couldn´t get more personal then this. Draco would appreciate the tradition, she knew. So for that she had found parchment, spelled to be only visible to the recipient. It would be very dangerous if Lucius found it, both for herself and Draco. Jenna wasn´t sure she had made a good decision in trying to befriend the Malfoy heir now that the darkness was rising, but it was too late to do anything about it now. The hired owl heading there right now.

For her Sire Jenna had gotten an empty vial, which she had filled with her own blood when she was alone in the bathroom. Jenna knew she had powerful blood because of her magic and her Sire liked to drink it. Giving him blood every now and then showed her gratitude and love towards her Sire. It also strenghtened their connection with every drop.

She hadn´t bought the Centaurs anything. They abhorred all material possesions. Instead she had given the post owl a wild rose to deliver, to honour the mark the Centaurs had given her.

And now she was almost done with her gifts. She just needed that last one, and it wasn´t coöperating.

Walking down the busy shoppingstreet, Jenna´s eye fell on a dinnerware store. With a heavy sigh, Jenna entered. There were almost no more stores she hadn´t seen and it didn´t hurt to try. Maybe she could find something for the Weasley parents here.

Jenna looked around in the shop a bit disappointed. Nothing very interesting caught her eye. Except a small movement from the left. She turned just in time to face the man before he could tap her on the shoulder. "Can I help you Miss?" A man in his fifties looked down at her questioningly.

"Yes, well I´m not sure. I´m looking for a gift, you see. For a family. My boyfriends´ family actually and I want it to be special. But not too expensive, but I do want something nice." Jenna stopped herself with a wince. She hated babbling, but sometimes she couldn´t stop herself, especially when she wasn´t too sure of herself. It was a testament of how tired and exasperated she was, that she didn´t even try to repeat the words in a more sensible way. Instead she simply watched as the man started muttering to himself.

"Hmm, I do have some goblets. They are simple and would make a good gift, but that´s not really special. Maybe.."

His eyes lit up in an idea and he asked excitedly. "It is a wizarding family, right?"

Jenna nodded mutely, unwilling to release another bout of babbles.

"Perfect. Come here young Miss." He led Jenna to the counter and scurried around, pulling several boxes from around. He opened each carefully to expose a variety of different goblets. They weren´t the usual drinking goblets, but more like showpieces. They were large and most had bold and flashy decorations. Jenna´s mouth twisted in disgust.

"Ehm, I don´t think that´s what I´m looking for."

The man didn´t loose any of his excitement as he shook his head. "No I suspected you might feel that way. But what about this one?" He pointed to a simple, elegant golden goblet.

Jenna looked the piece over critically."It is a bit…." She searched her mind for a polite way to say it, but gave up with an apologetic glance at the shop owner. "…boring."

He beamed back. "Yes it is, isn´t it? But what if I incribe the recipients Family Crest into it? That would make it a special gift and for only fifteen sickles."

After a second of trying to guess how it would come to look, Jenna broke out in a smile. "Yeah that´s a great idea. Please inscribe the Weasley Crest into the goblet."

The man looked at her intently for a second. "You aren´t the sister of Galen Potter are you? The girl that is dating the Weasley twins?"

Jenna stepped back in surprise. "Wh..how did you know?"

He gave a small smile. "My sons go to Hogwarts and I hear enough from them." He leaned forward and whispered as if telling a great secret. "I know you´ve got it a bit rough at that school, but don´t let them get you down. My oldest isn´t the only one in Ravenclaw who is a bit disillusioned with The Boy Who Lived. The younger years, including my youngest son only see the fame, but a lot of the Ravenclaw seventh years aren´t happy with your brother´s arrogance and his bad attitude in classes. Trowan especially. He was a lot more positive about you actually."

Eyes wide in astonishment Jenna asked. "But I thought everybody there hated me? They´re always so cold to me!"

The man shook his head. "Nah, they don´t hate you. Not all of them in any case. They´re just afraid of going against your brother. For a little kid he sure has a lot of power, not to mention your parents. And he has Dumbledore´s backing. They don´t want to make waves. Give them some time and they´ll grow a backbone."

Jenna grinned a small grin. "Is that right?"

Twinkling eyes laughed back. "Yup." He stuck out his hand. "The name´s Jeremiah Boot, father of Terry and Trowan Boot."

Shaking the offered hand lightly Jenna grinned back. "Jenaya Potter, at your service."

"Well then Miss Potter, let´s make you a goblet. Can´t keep the inlaws waiting." Jeremiah ignored the stuttered denial about the Weasley´s being inlaws and took out his wand. Ten minutes later, the goblet proudly bore the Weasley crest and motto. When Jenna asked about the motto, Jeremiah just winked and proclaimed it a reward for doing so well in school and refused to accept extra money for it.

Jenna shook his hand one last time and walked out of the shop quickly. All she had to do now was prepare her present for Charlie, Bill, Fred and George. A note to the goblins, a message to the Centaurs and a quick prayer for good luck covered that.

With a bounce in her step, she headed towards the Leaky Cauldron to floo back and get some welldeserved rest.

On Christmasmorning Jenna was awoken by a deep kiss. Her eyes fluttered open to look into Fred´s loving ones. "Morning kitten, merry Christmas."

Jenna smiled. "Hey, goodmorning to you too." She had slept alone in the guestroom during her time at the Burrow and missed both her boys a lot. She felt much safer and loved when they cuddled up to her.

George stuck his head around the door. "Good morning princess. Ready for the Weasley Christmas day?"

"Weasley and Potter Christmas." Jenna corrected him. She sighed. "When are they coming again?"

"One o´clock, so we still have a few safe hours. Come on, get up. Breakfast is almost ready." George said happily. He was trying to keep the mood light and to keep Jenna from worrying.

Grumbling Jenna crawled out of bed and followed the two boys down the stairs, still dressed in her sweatpants and tanktop. The other Weasley´s already sat at their places and were talking happily. When she came in the room fell quiet, like it did every time when she interrupted the family. Mrs Weasley smiled bravely. Since she had almost lost the girl on the shoppingtrip, Mrs Weasley had been a lot warmer, though she still held back a lot in her affection. "Good morning, Jenna. Sit down." Percy huffed, Ron sneered and Ginny shot Jenna a glare. Ginny hadn´t forgiven her for missing out on the shopping trip. Mr Weasley saw the tension in the room and suddenly found his morning newspaper very interesting.

Bill rolled his eyes at his family´s behavior and pulled Jenna into the chair next to him. Pecking her on the cheek he grinned. "Merry Christmas, imp. How are you on this beautiful day?"

Jenna smiled gratefully. "I´m fine, Bill. Merry Christmas to you too."

"Hey! Don´t I get a ´Merry Christmas´?" Charlie said looking hurt. Only his eyes betrayed his mirth.

"Oh, I´m so sorry. How could I ever forget you Charlie?" Jenna jumped up, firmly ignoring the hostile eyes following her every move. She walked to the dragontamer and gave him a quick hug. "Merry Christmas, Charlie." She whispered.

Charlie smiled and hugged her back before releasing her and swatting her but. "Good. Now sit down, because I´m really hungry."

Jenna huffed and walked back to her seat between Bill and Fred. She felt Fred´s hand curl around her own under the table in a hidden show of comfort. Jenna looked expectantly to Mrs Weasley, waiting for the oppressing silence to be broken. It only took 2 minutes…

Finally Mrs Weasley gave another tight smile and said in a fake cheerful voice. "Merry Christmas everybody. I´m very pleased that we can spend this holiday with the whole family..and our guest." Again there was a tense silence.

This time it was George who broke it. "Right. Let´s eat." He reached for the warm rolls and eventually everybody was eating and talking. It was still a bit strained, but it was a lot better than before. Jenna shot her lover a grateful glance. He winked back.

The morning flew by and soon it was time for the Potters to arrive. All the inhabitants of the Burrow were waiting in the livingroom by the fireplace. At five past one the fire roared green and James Potter strode out, followed by Galen and Lily. Jenna couldn´t keep her body from tensing up at the sight of them, but she was calmed by Fred´s hand on her arm.

The Potters smiled at the redheaded family, eyes easily dismissing their own familymember. Galen immediately headed for his friends and started a hushed conversation.

"Molly it´s so good to see you again." Lily smiled politely.

Mrs Weasley smiled back. "You too Lily, and can I just say how lovely you all look. Your boy is growing up to be a heartbreaker for sure."

Galen looked up when he heard his name and flashed Mrs Weasley a killer smile. "Thank you, ma´am. Though you look lovely as well. You look no day over thirty." Bill looked on a bit disturbed at the clear sucking up but remained quiet.

"Arthur." James shook Mr Weasley´s hand firmly. "How is work at the department coming along?"

Mr Weasley brightened at the thought of talking about his beloved work. "Oh it is still very interesting. We´re tracking down a series of charmed beds this month. When the Muggles lie down in them, they sink to the floor, through the bed." He shook his head. "Sometimes I wonder if the wizards who distribute these thing _want_ the wizarding world exposed."

James hummed his agreement and walked with the Weasley patriarch to the couch to continue with their conversation. Mrs Weasley had already dragged Lily to the kitchen so only the children remained. Percy took the opportunity to further his connection to The Boy Who Lived. It was after all politically very benificial if he had the boy hero as an aquaintance.

"A very good day to you, Galen. I hope you will enjoy your stay at the Burrow. If you need any help just let me know. Merry Christmas Mr Potter."

Galen smiled winningly. "Yes well, I´m happy to be here too. Thanks Percy, I appreciate your offer and a Merry Christmas to you too." Percy nodded pompously and turned to go back to his room.

Galen watched him leave with an amused smile on his face. When Percy was out of hearingrange he asked with a viscious smirk. "Is he always such a stuck up loser or do I just bring it out?"

Ron laughed and Ginny followed. "He´s always like that, but he really must like you if he calls you by your last name." Ron added.

"Of course he likes me. I´m The Boy Who Lived. Everybody likes me." Galen shot a smug look at his sister. He didn´t need to speak the words _unlike you_´ out loud.

Jenna glared right back. "Oh please. Like I care about your mindless fans or those two idiots who call themselves our parents. I have got real friends right here. Friends who will stick with me for who I am, not what I am."

Galen smirked. "Good friends like Neville?"

She reared back as if she had been slapped. Neville´s betrayal was dampened by the love from Fred, George, Bill and Charlie, but it still hurt. Especially because Jenna knew Neville could have become a person she loved and trusted explicitly. Pulling herself back together, Jenna´s eyes grew frigid. She had the pleasure of watching Galen grow slightly uncomfortable under her gaze.

"No, good friends like Fred and Geor.."

She was cut off by Galen´s snort. "Oh please. They only stay with you as long as you put out for them."

Jenna went on, ignoring Galen´s remark. "..ge and Bill and Charlie."

A calculating glint appeared in Galen´s eyes. He looked at the two older Weasley boys. "Really? You think they´ll choose you over me? Even their parents know you are worth nothing."

"Why don´t you ask them." Jenna said. She actually didn´t feel as confident as her words implied, but she couldn´t show her fear. Galen would rip her apart if he saw her being weak.

Jenna knew Bill and Charlie liked her, maybe even loved her and she certainly loved them back, but this was a big decision. By throwing away Galen´s friendship they could land themselves in a difficult position, both with their parents and with the wizarding world in general. Galen could turn people against them easily if he wanted to. Still Jenna couldn´t help but hope with all her heart that the two other Weasley´s would take that risk for her.

"Right, let´s see. You are?" Galen asked patronisingly.

"I´m Bill." The longhaired Weasley ground out. He had listened to the boy hero insult Percy, Fred, George and Jenna in only five minutes. He also knew Neville betrayed Jenna in some way. Neither the twins nor Jenna had provided details, but he knew that Galen had set it up. And now Galen was playing headgames with his sister over it. No, he decided he didn´t like the Potter heir very much at all.

"Okay Bill. Would you please tell that little idiot which side you prefer, the side of succes and fame or the side of ridicule and scorn." He smirked at his own poetic sentence.

Bill smirked right back. "I think I´ll choose the side of friendship."

Galen looked pleased. "Good, that´s a wise choice..." He halted his words when he saw Bill walk to Jenna and wrap an arm around her. Bill grinned. "Thanks, I knew you would see it my way."

Charlie laughed heartily."I couldn´t agree more big brother. What do you say our little side of ridicule and scorn goes outside for a game of Quidditch?"

Jenna looked at the two elder Weasley´s with bright eyes and whispered. "Thanks guys." They winked back and led their group outside. A shrill voice made them halt.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING? THIS IS THE BOY WHO LIVED AND YOU SIDE WITH THAT..THAT PIECE OF TRASH? HAVE YOU.." They ignored Ginny´s rant and walked to the Quidditch pitch in silence.

With a big sigh Jenna sat down on the grass. "Well, that´s a good start of the day. I thought Galen would at least have the decency to keep his comments to himself when he´s a guest." Jenna felt guilty over ruining what was supposed to be a peaceful day, but she didn´t want to complain either. Trying to play it off as unimportant, Jenna smiled brightly. "At least we don´t have to look at them right now. That´s something."

George noticed the fakeness of the statement, but didn´t call her on it. Instead he reached for her hand and rubbed small, soothing circles with his thumb on the back of her hand. It was a small movement, missed by the others but it gave Jenna the comfort she needed. It was the little gestures like this that made Jenna sure the twins loved her.

Unaware of the tender moment he was interrupting, Bill pointed to the sky. A black dot was quickly making its way towards the house. "Hey, what´s that? It looks like a really big bird."

All eyes followed Bill´s line of sight. "Ehhm, it´s an eagle I think." Charlie hestitated. "..no wait it´s black. A raven! It´s a bloody raven, what the hell?"

Jenna smiled genuinely. "A raven? Are you sure? Yeah, it is, I can see her." She gave George´s hand a squeeze and then let go. Standing up she pulled her sleeve over her arm and waited for the magnificent bird to land on it.

"Jenna love, what the hell are you doing? That´s a raven, they are dangerous!" George said incredulously.

"No she isn´t dangerous. She´s from a friend of mine. Look I´ll explain in a minute." The raven had arrived and took his place on Jenna´s arm. She almost toppeled over from the heavy weight, but George grabbed her around the waist, just in time.

"Hey there Cleo. Do you have something for me, sweetie?" Jenna cooed to the big bird, oblivious to the stares she was getting from the Weasley´s. Cleo dropped a package from her beak to the ground, gave a screech and took off in the direction from which she had come.

Jenna grabbed the package and looked at her watch. "How much time do we have until dinner?"

"I think..ehm we have to be back inside at five." Bill said helpfully.

Jenna beamed. "Great, then I have enough time. Come here." She ripped off the paper of the package to reveal a red glowing ball. "I need you to touch this, it´s a sort of portkey. I want to show you something. It´s my Christmaspresent to you all." She watched with veiled, anxious eyes how the boys reacted to her suggestion. It was the last test. If they could trust her enough to take a portkey to an unknown location, she could trust to tell them her secret. And how she wanted to.

Fred and George immediately touched the ball, Charlie did too after a moments hestitation. Bill looked at Jenna calculatingly. She looked back neutrally and offered. "We´ll be back in time for dinner."

Mentally Jenna was chanting _Come on, you trust me. Come on Bill, you trust me and you want to know what I have to say. Touch the ball. Touch th…Yes!´_

Bill nodded and reached out for the ball. The moment he touched it, all five people disappeared without a trace.

END CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

N.B. There, I fitted in the Goblins! and a bit more insight in the students in Hogwarts. Some have noticed they don´t like Galen all that much any more, but they don´t want to make waves yet. Not to worry, they will get a reason to make waves eventually. Hope you liked it!

Mirabel and Roger will come back in the story later, I just wanted them introduced. I find it unbelievable that Severus would have absolutely NO FRIENDS. So here he has a nice set of friends, that are severely underused characters in the books.

Next chapter will Jenna reveal her secret to the Weasley boys and some more information about her lessons.

(By the way, this is my longest chapter yet. hehe, happy me!)


	20. Chapter 19

Wow. I just got back from my introduction week for my study and suddenly I have a hundred and three reviews! Thank you ever so much. Hope you like my chappie.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except for my character Jenaya Potter

CHAPTER NINETEEN

thoughts´

"talking English"

°°Vampire language, also called Vampiric Mot°°

House-elf language, also called Gaëla

# Language of the Werewolves, also called Grawl #

/Language of the Goblins, also called Gobbledegook/

§ Centaur language, also called Starwan §

LAST CHAPTER

Fred and George immediately touched the ball, Charlie did too after a moments hestitation. Bill looked at Jenna calculatingly. She looked back neutrally and offered. "We´ll be back in time for dinner."

Mentally Jenna was chanting Come on, you trust me. Come on Bill, you trust me and you want to know what I have to say. Touch the ball. Touch th…Yes!´

Bill nodded and reached out for the ball. The moment he touched it, all five people disappeared without a trace.

They landed in a clearing of the forest. Jenna nodded happily. The goblins had provided a very precise placer. A placer was a goblinportkey. They were hard to set to a specific place, but they were very useful for this as they weren´t traceable by wizardingmagic. Only goblins would be able to trace them and they wouldn´t do that for a wizard or witch. Mentally Jenna acknowledged that was a very good thing now. It wouldn´t do for some Death Eater to find them.

"...Oh my head." Bill groaned. "I hate travelling by placers." All of the boys had fallen over in the unpleasant way of travel.

"Sorry ´bout that Bill. I just wanted to be safe." Jenna pulled out a few vials of headache potion and handed them to the boys. She knew humans always got a headache from placers, but because of her goblinmark she had no problems with that.

Jenna waited patiently for them to drink the potions and recover rational thought.

The sound of hooves behind her made her look up. Three large Centaurs stood there looming over her. She broke into a large smile and ran to the brownhaired one, throwing her arms around his neck to the astonishment of the humans.

§ Denaro, I´m so happy to see you again. § Jenna whinnied. The Centaur were a strange folk. They abhorred material possesions and ranks. Everything was shared between them and all rules were about following the will of the herde and the stars. Because of that there were no special gestures or acknowledgements, Jenna had to make to her Centaur mentor. She could speak her mind with him always, because he treated her like an equal. Well as much an equal can be when it´s still a foal.

§ Goodday, little foal. I see you have brought your friends? § Denaro replied with a gentle smile.

§ Yes I did. These two are my mates. The older two are their brothers and my friends. They chose me over Galen! §

Denaro nodded approvingly. He knew all about the treatment of his little foal at the hands of her bloodparents and her bloodbrother. § Did you tell them about us? Because they are looking at you stangely. §

Jenna looked at the boys. She blushed red when she realized she once again spoke a weird language in front of them without explanation. Her whinnies and snorts must make her seem crazy. Fred cleared his throat nervously. "So I´m guessing this is like with the House-Elves, only this is…Centaur language?"

"Yeah it is." Jenna looked to Denaro for help.

§ You´d better explain it to them then. We will stay out of sight, call us when they are ready to meet us. § He said with an amused glint in his eyes.

Jenna nodded and focused all her attention to the redheads. "Right, okay sit down. I need to explain some things."

"You could say that again." Charlie muttered.

Jenna flushed red again and looked down, saying defensively. "It isn´t easy for me you know. I´ve never told anyone, besides Master about this. You four are the only other humans I trust enough to tell."

Bill looked up sharply. He was old enough to remember the way the Death Eaters droned on about their Master. The word didn´t sit well with him, but he would give Jenna the chance to explain.

Jenna looked at the boys one by one. They had never seen her this serious. "This is my present to you. I´m trusting you with my biggest secret because I think you will be loyal to me. I need your word you will not tell anyone about this until I say you can. A lot depends on it. I won´t ask an oath because I hate those things, but I want your word. Can you give me that?" Seeing their faces she added quickly. "My secret doesn´t hurt anyone, I promise."

The boys nodded and Jenna started her story. She explained how her parents had forgotten about her and how she ended up in the library with a passion for stories. "Some days I went to explore the forest instead. Nobody had told me that was dangerous for a little kid. One day I got lost, I was three years old at the time." Jenna told them, thinking back to the day that had changed her world.

FLASHBACK

Jenna stumbled through the forest, tears running down her face. She had followed the little squirrel deep into the forest to play with it, but now she didn´t know where she was anymore. It was already dark and there were scary noises everywhere.

A quiet whimper left her lips and she looked around. Tinky and Mipsy weren´t here to show her the way home and Dobby wasn´t here to make her laugh. Another tear slipped out of her eyes and a sob escaped.

Suddenly there was a big noise behind one of the trees. Curious despite her fear, Jenna walked to the place where she heard it. She saw a big tail sweeping before her face and giggled through her tears. It was only a tail, that wasn´t scary!

The owner of the tail looked down to see a wizard child with dirty clothes and dried teartracks on her face, staring at his tail. His first reaction was of blind rage. Last time the humans came to their territory two foals and five adult Centaurs had died. How did the humans dare to invade again? He almost reared back to strike when common sense crashed in. This was but a foal and it was a high crime to kill a foal, no matter of their species. But what was a human foal doing so deep in the forest? Curious he leaned forward to study the child better.

Suddenly a feeling of belonging flowed through him. Denaro blinked shocked, it wasn´t often he was surprised but this child was nothing like he had expected. He adjusted his eyes to see the magic and blinked again. The child´s magic was swirling around her with the force of a thunderstorm. Sometimes a tendril would strike out at the forest surrounding them, warning off dangerous predators and calling to the peacefull inhabitants. Somehow the child unconsciously reached out and made the creatures of the wild accept her, love her. Denaro saw a tendril of the child´s magic compassing him and knew that feeling of belonging was the result of it. He knew he was being manipulated, but somehow it didn´t matter. He knew he should take the child in and make her bloom.

Denaro looked at the starry sky and searched for what he expected to see. _There!_ Yes child would play a large role in the history of the magical species. She would learn, unite and destroy. It was written.

The brownhaired Centaur looked down again. She would have to know about war and magic and he would start her training. "Hello child. What is your name?"

Jenna looked up shocked. There was more than a tail! Shaking in fear she said. "I-I…I´m J-Jennnna, S-Sir Mr Horse S-Sir." She looked down quickly. She had disturbed him and now he would lock her up in the horrible cupboard!

Denaro saw the magic spike and ready itself for attack. The girl felt threatened and that was dangerous. Mentally he postponed the war and magic training in favor of stabilising her emotions. Without that she would loose control and that would be desastrous. Smiling gently he said "My name is Denaro, child." He waited a second, trying to come up with something to calm her fears. He automatically raised his eyes to the stars, trying to read an answer. It came to him in a flash. "Would you like to hear a story, Jenna? I can tell you what is written in the stars."

He breathed a quick sigh of relief. The magic had settled down a bit. "A s-story? Ab-bout the s-stars?"

Denaro smiled. "Sit down and I´ll tell you about the stories of old."

END FLASHBACK

Jenna sighed happily. "I came back every day and some nights after that. Denaro told me about myths and about how the Centaurs live. He taught me how to meditate and how to reign in my magic. Eventually he even taught me the Centaur language."

"You were really talking to him!" Charlie called out. "I thought that was a joke. Was that Denaro?" He asked eagerly.

Jenna grinned. "You thought I was just whinnying a bit for fun? And yes that was Denaro. You can meet him later." She looked around to check how they were taking her story. Bill looked thoughtful

but accepting, Charlie looked excited, and the twins just smiled. Jenna had the idea they had already guessed she had some strange secrets. _´So far so good!´ _Breathing a quick sigh of relief, she went on with her story.

"My parents never noticed I was gone, but the House-Elves did. Mipsy, Tinky, Dobby and Frazzel were very concerned about me and made me confess what was going on. They were happy I had made new friends and decided to teach me about House-Elves as well. So then I listened to stories about the House-Elves as well. It left me less time with the Centaurs, but Denaro didn´t mind. He said I had to try to get stories from all around. I didn´t even realise he actually meant lessons. Anyway when one day I met a Vampiress on my way to the Centaurs, I talked to her."

"A Vampiress?" Charlie asked, looking a bit pale. He had become the voice of the group it seemed.

"Yeah." Jenna nodded. "Now I don´t know what you know about Vampires but they are not mindless monsters. They are a very violent race and easily provoked. Attack or insult them and they retaliate viciously, but they don´t kill without reason.Vampires that attack humans for food are Rogues. They are Outcasts from their society and they are hunted down by the Vampire Guard. The Rama Vampires, the ones from within the society and by far the largest group only drink from the willing. And from each other of course."

Before Charlie could throw out his disagreement, Jenna ploughed on. "I know this because I accepted lessons from Maxoda Xele, that is her rank and name by the way. I lived with her for eight months, listening to stories about Vampire customs and language."

Fred spoke up for the first time. "And your parents never noticed you missing for _eight months_?"

Jenna shook her head sadly. "Didn´t notice or didn´t care. The house-elves covered for me sometimes, but James and Lily could have easily seen through it if they had tried."

They were silent for a minute, going over all the new information in their heads. Bill finally said. "That´s not all is it? You brought us here by a Goblin portkey, they don´t give these things away easily. And I saw how they treated you at Gringotts. They know something. Just from how many races have you gotten lessons, Jenna?"

Wordlessly, Jenna kicked off her shoes and shrugged off her warm coat. "I learned from many. And after years of learning language, war skills and obedience I was accepted into their worlds. I carry the marks of every race I learned from and that means I am part of their races. The reason I told you to keep this quiet is because to the Ministry I _am_ a Centaur. I _am _a House-Elf, I _am_ a Vampire and more."

Cancelling the glamours, Jenna held up her hand took off the fingerless glove. She showed the pentagram. "This signifies I am a subject of the House-Elf Eldars, I can do a little of their magic, like mindmelody and aurareading and I know their language. They gave me a House elf name too, it´s Ilka."

Fred and George looked at each other and nodded. They finally had their answer of the strange nickname the House elves gave Jenna.

Then Jenna bared her shoulder to show the grey asp with the two puncture holes beneath. "This signifies I am a Nightwalker. The High Prince himself chose me as his Childe." The boys looked suitably impressed and Jenna preened slightly. Continuing she showed her scarred neck.

"This is the bite of my Werewolf Alpha, I am not gifted with his connection to the moon, but I do have some extra strength and instincts."

Jenna looked up at the faces of the boys. They looked gobsmacked, but she could find no trace of disgust or anger. With a forced smile to cover her nerves she added lightly. "Hey you two have met my Werewolf Alpha by the way."

Fred and George looked surprised. Because of their confusion they fell into their shared speechpattern. "We have met…"

"your Werewolf Alpha…"

"already and we didn´t …"

"know it?"

Jenna couldn´t surpress a small grin. It wasn´t often she could get one over the twins. "Yeah. He teaches DADA at Hogwarts."

"Professor Grahm?" George asked for confirmation.

"The one and only. I can´t really treat him like my Alpha in public though, it would give us away immediately. Not a good idea."

Jenna´s face lost any semblance of happiness as she uttered her next words. "How are you handling this, guys? I understand if you´re angry or..or scared of me. I- I can stay away from you if you want me to." Unable to look at them Jenna studied the grass in front of her.

The boys were silent for a moment, trying to process everything she had said. Then Charlie blurted out. "Stay away? I think it is absolutely amazing what you´ve done. I want to meet those people who taught you."

Fred leaned forward and shook his head. "Silly kitten. You thought you could get rid of us so easily. Nope. Not gonna work, you´re stuck with us, Jen." His face turned mischievous as his eyes met his brothers´. "We´re not really angry, but I do believe you need to be punished for keeping this from us so long." With that he tackled her to the ground and started tickling. Jenna shrieked in suprise and laughter at her unpredictable boyfriends. They always managed to surprise her. "St-stop pl…ple-a-s-e."

George leaned closer to the two and smirked. "Are you going to apologise to us?"

Fred stopped his assault to let Jenna catch her breath. She panted out sincerely. "Yes, of course. I´m really sor-hmmph.."

Before she could finish the sentence, George kissed her deeply. He released her with a smug smile as he saw her panting. His flippant comment "I´ve always wanted a House-Elf!" earned him a good whack to the head. Nonetheless George snickered.

Not to be outdone Fred pulled Jenna into a kiss as well and only released her when Bill cleared his throat loudly. Fred blinked at him innocently. "Frog in your throat, Bill?"

Bill rolled his eyes at the display. He was amazed to see how easily the twins had noticed and dealt with Jenna´s nerves and insecurities. They were really a good match for each other. With a smile he said. "I must say you´ve surprised me, imp. But I knew I had seen you before. You´ve stayed with the Goblins as well haven´t you? Come on, show your others marks!"

Jenna laughed delighted at their acceptance and told the rest a lot more confidently. "Okay, this one, the diamond is from the Goblins as you guessed, Bill. I know Gobbledegook!"

Once again Bill looked impressed. He knew first hand how horrible Gobbledegook was to learn. After trying for five years he had given up. Furthermore it was practically impossible for humans, not working for Gringotts, to convince a goblin to teach them the language. Almost as difficult as….Bill let out a snort at his own thoughts. _Almost as difficult as convincing a Vampire or a Centaur to teach you_.´

Correctly interpreting Bill´s look Jenna added with a sheepish smile. "It wasn´t easy. They pushed me really hard, I had no choice but to learn their language. They wouldn´t speak to me in anything else. After a few months of loneliness, the motivation is big."

Pulling up her shirt Jenna pointed to the raven on her lower stomach. "That´s the Veela sign, but they haven´t got their own language. I did pick up some French with them. And they educated me thoroughly in what they do best. I´ll show you some time." Jenna gave a saucy wink to her two boys and chuckled at the looks on their faces.

Turning around she showed her lower back. "This is the rose of the Centaurs. That doesn´t give me any extra strength or anything, because I am lousy at divination. But it is pretty isn´t it?"

"Yeah. Beautiful." George murmered, running his fingers lightly over the red petals on his girlfriends back.

"There´s just one thing I want to know." Bill said, looking at Jenna. "You haven´t explained who that Master of yours is."

"Oh, I almost forgot about him." Jenna winced. "He´s not going to be happy if he ever hears that. He doesn´t like being forgotten. Ah well…" She grinned and let the last of her glamours fall away, showing her Apprentice bracelets. "When I was six I hitched a ride to the party in the Great Hall for Galen´s birthday."

Charlie frowned, looking at his brothers. "We were there. I haven´t seen you. In fact I didn´t even know Galen had a sister."

Jenna blushed, this time out of pained embarrassment. "Yeah they wanted to keep me in the shadows as much as possible. Or the cupboard." She muttered to herself. She didn´t see Bill and Charlie turn to the twins alarmed, shooting a look that said Explain later!´.

"I didn´t stay there, I went into the hallway and there I met Professor Snape. We talked a bit….actually he talked and I tried not to stutter." Jenna grinned weakly. Looking at her bracelets she sighed. "I don´t know why he took me on as his Apprentice. I guess I´ll never know, but he has trained me into all I need to know about wizardingmagic. He´s a good Master."

"How far are you in your studies?" George asked interested. He had seen how easy it was for Jenna in classes, even though she tried to hide it. He was with her almost every minute of the day, so he knew she never practiced out of class.

Jenna smiled shyly. "I could take Auror exam right now. I´m almost ready to transform into an Animagusform. I can´t seem to get wordless spells right though." She added with a pout. Even after months of work, silent spells just didn´t work for her.

Fred let out a laugh. "Wow that´s great. You can help me with my NEWT´s!"

Smiling Jenna cuffed him on the head. "You can do it yourself buddy. I´m only a fourth yearstudent remember?"

"Maybe blackmail or bribes.." Fred mused to himself.

Jenna only rolled her eyes. She noticed the Centaurs come closer again and only now did she recognise the other two with Denaro. The two blond Centaurs were called Faramo and Danze. They were the usual Centaur, quiet and introspective unless with their foals.

Preparing herself for a strange conversation at this clash of two cultures, Jenna put on her brightest smile. A small voice in the back of her head told her this must be the feeling of the boyfriend meeting the parents, only with two boyfriends and ´parents´ who understood and approved of very little in the wizarding world. Yes this would be very interesting indeed.

END CHAPTER NINETEEN

N.B. Ok this may have been a bit boring, but I wanted to write the reactions of the boys, instead of merely saying _"And Jenna told them all about what she had been taught."_

Besides, this way you could learn more about the Centaurs. Did you notice I have introduced characters from all species except for the Veela now? Hehe, so happy.


	21. Chapter 20

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except for my character Jenaya Potter

CHAPTER TWENTY

_thoughts´_

"talking English"

°°Vampire language, also called Vampiric Mot°°

House-elf language, also called Gaëla

# Language of the Werewolves, also called Grawl #

/Language of the Goblins, also called Gobbledegook/

§ Centaur language, also called Starwan §

**Written language**

_LAST CHAPTER_

_Fred let out a laugh. "Wow that´s great. You can help me with my NEWT´s!"_

_Smiling Jenna cuffed him on the head. "You can do it yourself buddy. I´m only a fourth yearstudent remember?"_

"_Maybe I can blackmail her into it or bribe.." Fred mused to himself._

_Jenna only rolled her eyes. She noticed the Centaurs come closer again and only now did she recognise the other two with Denaro. The two blond Centaurs were called Faramo and Danze. They were the usual Centaur, quiet and introspective unless with their foals._

_Preparing herself for a strange conversation at this clash of two cultures, Jenna put on her brightest smile. A small voice in the back of her head told her this must be the feeling of the boyfriend meeting the parents, only with two boyfriends and ´parents´ who understood and approved of very little in the wizarding world. Yes this would be very interesting indeed._

With a big swoosh, five people returned to the Weasley lands. This time, Bill managed to stay on his feet with Jenna, but the others fell once again.

Jenna giggled at them. She felt so much lighter than before. Her closest friends knew her secret and they didn´t mind. They had sworn an oath of silence after Denaro´s friend, Faramo had implied the Weasley´s would betray Jenna. Faramo in particular had a bad opinion of the wizaring world and wasn´t pleased with meeting the redheads. He seemingly disregarded the fact that Jenna wasn´t a true Centaur and took personal offense that she had chosen two wizarding mates.

Fred had almost blown up at the idea that somebody accused him of betraying his girlfriend, but Bill, ever the practical one had averted a crisis by suggesting the oaths. That had mollified Faramo somewhat and the rest of the conversation had been tense, but polite.

A swish with her wand and a muttered spell showed Jenna that they only had half an hour until dinner. "Get up lazybones! We need to hurry. Dinner starts in thirty minutes and I still have to change."

George smirked. "Never thought you to be vain, love."

Jenna blushed embarrassed. "The Potters will see it as an insult to your family if I don´t show up all dressed up. I really want to avoid trouble tonight if I can." Looking down she muttered. "Besides I want to make a good impression on your parents."

Charlie shot his little brother a glare for making her so uncomfortable. George winced and then tried to cover up his mistake by smiling brightly. "Alright then. If we hurry, you´ll make it in time. Let´s go!"

They hurried back to the house and easily slipped in. Lily Potter shot a disapproving look at her daughter when said girl shot up the stairs to her rooms. With a sigh she apologised to her companion. "I´m so sorry Molly. I just don´t know what to do with her. She shows no respect at all for her superiors."

Mrs Weasley covered her surprise at the words. In the time the girl had been in her house she had been unfailingly polite, even with the less than friendly welcome. With an uneasy smile she answered. "She´s only a child Lily. Children don´t know any better."

James Potter, who had overheared the conversation, growled. His face grew dark when he commented. "That´s no excuse. She _should_ know better." Lily nodded her agreement with a scowl on her face.

The Weasley parents exchanged nervous glances at the anger both Potters projected. In an attempt to change the topic of conversation, Mr Weasley asked about how Galen was settling in in Hogwarts. At once both of the Potter´s faces cleared of the anger and they began to explain happily how their son had befriended so many and was doing so well in his classes.

The Weasley parents breathed a sigh of relief.

Upstairs Jenna reverently took her dress out of her trunk. It was a gorgeous shimmering, darkred piece of work. Madame Malkin had made this especially for her as a gift for finally going to Hogwarts and today would be the first time Jenna wore it.

The dress had long sleeves which flowed out by her hands. A loop was on the inside to put her thumb through, so the sleeve would cling to her arm nicely. The upper part of the dress was tight again her skin but the lower part flowed out and swirled around as if ruffled by a gentle breeze.

Jenna smiled as she looked at herself in the mirror. She looked like a princess from a fairytale, a person from one of the stories she used to imagine to make her feel a little less alone. But now she no longer needed her fantasy for that, she had friends and that thought alone made her nearly glow in happiness.

She adjusted the angelnecklace so it hung in the small of her throat and removed her fingerless gloves. Tonight she wouldn´t need the extra protection they provided. Instead of her combat boots, Jenna chose her black sandals with high heels. She pinned her hair up and let a few locks fall out to frame her face.

"Ok." Jenna took a deep breath, ran her eyes over her reflection one last time and nodded. "Ok, I can do this. James can´t hurt me, Lily can´t hurt me, Galen can´t hurt me. I´m gonna have a great night and make the Weasley parents love me." Nodding decisevely again as she finished her little peptalk, Jenna let go of the breath. Time to face the parents.

Jenna came down the stairs carefully. She had worn high heels before, but it was always a chore. Fred stood at the bottom of the stairs, grinning up at her maniacally. "Wow kitten. You look absolutely stunning."

With a smile she reached her boyfriend and took his offered arm. "You don´t look too bad yourself. I thought you didn´t want to change for dinner?" Jenna asked, motioning to the formal black slacks and the white dress-shirt.

Fred grinned bashfully. "Couldn´t let you be the one to steal the spotlight, now could I?"

Mrs Weasley was the first to notice them as they entered the dining room. Her eyes filled with proud tears at seeing her boy so grown up. She had to admit the two made a striking pair, and they would look even better with George at Jenna´s other side. "Oh you two look wonderful."

Her outburst brought everyone´s attention to the new arrivals. Bill and Charlie were already there, both dressed in somewhat formal clothing. They nodded appreciatively and Bill leered at Jenna cheekily. She didn´t react but for the small twitch in her lips and the slightly rosy colour in her cheeks.

Ron and Ginny looked from Jenna´s custom made dress to their own secondhand clothes. An unpleasant expression passed Ginny´s face, while Ron grew steadily more red. He exploded just as the rest of the Potters walked into the room. "You snob. You think you´re so much better than us, flashing with your fancy clothes. Well guess what, nobody wants you so why don´t you just sodd off!"

He would have gone on if not for the outraged outcry of Mrs Weasley. "Ronald Billius Weasley, how dare you insult a guest like that?" The redhead wilted under the glare and scuttled to his seat after shooting one more dirty look in Jenna´s way.

Jenna didn´t even notice the look, too caught up in her parent´s reactions. James soothed the still angry Mrs Weasley. "Don´t worry about it Molly. Let´s not ruin this night because of some childish stunt." His eyes never strayed from Jenna´s as he spoke and it was clear to her who he blamed. And who would be punished.

Lily looked irritated at the attention Jenna had drawn to herself and tried to lead the conversation away from her troublesome daughter. To her it was always best to keep the girl as far away as possible and give her absolutely no attention. If the girl saw nobody cared about her stupid stunts, she would stop eventually. With a deep snif and an exaggerated happy face, Lily asked. "What have you made for us Molly? It smells absolutely heavenly."

Miserable that it had already started out so badly, Jenna avoided Fred´s worried gaze and sat down at the table. She tried not to see the smug Galen, who had witnessed his father´s words and knew what they meant.

George joined the table soon afterwards, dressed like Fred. He slid onto his seat, his eyes gliding from the happily chatting people to his quiet girlfriend. It didn´t take him long to reach the correct conclusion about what had happened. With an unaudiable sigh of regret he reached for Jenna´s hand under the table. His thoughts drifted as he tried to ignore Percy droning on about his Head Boy duties and he shook his head sadly. ´_What a great start of the Christmas evening!´_

After dinner Galen and Ron were the first to charge into the livingroom towards the pile of presents. The other people in the dining room hadn´t even left the table yet. In their haste the two boys failed to notice the malicious glint in Fred´s eyes as his gaze followed their retreat. Just before they reached their destination they bounced off an invisible shield around the entire area of the tree. Dazedly they got up from the floor where they had fallen down and scowled fiercely. They didn´t notice yet that their scowls weren´t as effective now that they had deer antlers on their heads and their noses were red.

Mr Weasley sighed and shot a tired look at his twin-sons. He waved his wand to remove the spells, and the shield before the younger boys noticed they had been pranked. It worked in time, but Mr Weasley didn´t notice George grinning as he put his magical camera back into his pocket. He would make sure that particular picture circulated the halls of Hogwarts in no time.

"Come on everyone. We can sit around the tree. I think it would be best for everyone to accio their own presents and then we can all unwrap them at the same time. I don´t want to keep the kids waiting for each other, that would take too long." Mrs Weasley looked around to see if everyone agreed.

As she received nods from all directions, she sat down and called her own presents to herself. That got the others moving and for a few minutes the air was filled with packages flying through the air of the small livingroom. To her surprise, Jenna saw a fair amount of wrapped boxes flying towards her after her accio-spell. It held no candle to the veritable mountain Galen was gloating over, but it was more than she had expected.

With a discreet flick of her wand, Jenna set up a notice-me-not and silencing bubble over herself, Fred, George, Bill and Charlie. Many of the gifts would undoubtably be from people she didn´t want to explain to the ones outside the wards. Bill sat up straight when he felt the magic tingle along his skin. He easily recognised the spells and shot Jenna an approving smile, before turning to his own gifts.

With her eyes shut Jenna grabbed her first present to open. It was a small flat package wrapped in red paper. She opened it and laughed quietly as she saw what she had received. A framed wizardingphoto showed Vivian and a greenhaired boy as they made the most outrageous faces at the camera.

It came with a small note.

**Hey J,**

**Merry Christmas! The boy in the picture is called Tup. He´s from the Silverfoot pack and he´s a blast to have around. When I told him about you needing a cheering up picture, because looking at Galen all day must be horribly depressing, he insisted we should start practicing our ´scary faces´. This is the result. :D**

**Tup really wants to meet you, so maybe we can arrange something soon? I already introduced him to my parents and the pack. They have expressed their blessing for our Mating. I know he´s the one, J. It´s a wonderful feeling to know I´ve found him. Our Matingceremony won´t be for another year, but you´ll be there, right?**

**Anyway, sorry for not writing so long. I think you understand why now.**

**Love,**

**Viv**

Jenna grinned. That was so like Viv, blunt and to the point. Peering again into the picture for a closer look at ´Tup´, Jenna nodded satisfied. He looked like a nice boy, but she would reserve her final decision for when she met him.

With a smile she picked her next present. It was from Mapplegob. To her amusement it was another book on how to best handle accounts and invest money. He had gotten her one every year, hoping to get her more interested in his job. Jenna always dutifully skimmed through the books, but couldn´t quite bring up the same enthousiasm as her Goblin father when it came to matters of money. Besides, the texts were very, very dry to read.

Xele gifted her with a new dagger and a small note describing a new barfight she had been in.

A box of sextoys from Umara and Mella had her blushing so fiercely George became quite interested in the gift. When he wasn´t allowed to see it he remarked. "At least tell me who it is from."

Jenna glanced around to see if anyone was listening, before she remembered her silencing wards.

With a small sigh she leaned in and said softly. "My Veela friends."

George´s gaze heated up and his mouth curled in a knowing smile. "I see."

After that Jenna kept her gaze away from the redhead and dug back into her presents with vigor. Unfortunately the next gift was a book from Alpha Grahm about Mating and the proper customs of introducing the Mates to the pack. Jenna stuffed it out of sight with a warning glance at a quietly snickering George. To Jenna´s relief the next one was a scarf made by Frazzel, Dobby, Mipsy and Tinky. It was so brightly coloured that Jenna was certain she would never wear it, but the idea was sweet.

The next present, a small tin with birdfood puzzled her, until Jenna read the note. With a smile she set the tin aside. Fred looked at her with a frown. "From who?"

Jenna thrust the note into Fred´s waiting hands and proceeded to rip the paper of the next present. Fred arched an eyebrow and read the short note.

**We will complete your animagustransformation when you return. **

**Master**

Jenna explained without waiting for the question. "He only allowed me to do parts until now. But I´ve got feathers so I´ll probably be a bird of some sorts." She shook her head in amusement. "Leave it to him to suddenly develop a sense of humor instead of buying a normal present. I don´t think I will ever understand that man."

From her Sire she received a very precious gift. He sent a tiny vial with ten drops of Sire´s blood. To the Vampire Childe that Jenna was, Sire´s blood was the ultimate healing and strenghtening potion. These ten drops could made the difference in a life or death situation. With a reverent sweep of her wand, the vial was unbreakable and it slid easily into pile of unwrapped gifts.

With only a few gifts left, Jenna took her time to savor them. She had already seen there was no gift from Draco, and while she was a bit sad, it wasn´t really a surprise. Jenna only hoped he would react well to her own gift.

As she picked up a plain box with holes on the upside she saw Charlie nudge Bill and give her a smile. She didn´t need to read the card who it was from. Still it wouldn´t hurt to look.

**Hey imp,**

**We decided you needed an imp of your own, so here he is. When he comes out of the box, make sure you are the first to touch him. He will see you as his mistress then and turn into your favorite colour. Not sure why that is, though.**

**Love**

**Bill and Charlie **

Her curiosity peeked, Jenna carefully opened the box and peered inside. In the box was a small animal, the size and shape of a tabletennis ball. He was white and fluffy with two little antenna on his head. He had big black eyes, no nose or mouth and two flat feet that were nearly as big as the rest of his body.

The little animal looked back with just as much curiosity as Jenna showed and he skipped forward. Jenna held out her hand and the little ball of fluff jumped into it without any hestitation.

Immediately the white colour stated to shimmer and turned to a fiery red. It wasn´t the same colour as the Weasley hair, but instead a darkred that blended over in a lightred, almost yellow colour. In short it looked like the poor little thing was on fire.

The beastie apparantly didn´t mind and squeaked happily with the new colour. Then he alternately waggled and skipped its way up Jenna´s arm. On her shoulder he settled and squeaked again in apparant joy. How he could squeak was a mystery for Jenna though, as he had no mouth. Eyes wide open in astonishment, Jenna turned to an amused Bill and Charlie.

"What the hell is it?"

Bill grinned. "That is a Wuppy. There very sweet animals, very loyal. Because they hardly have any way to defend themselves, they bond with a Master or in your case a Mistress. In return for protection they sense around for possible danger. They get jittery when they fear a threat to their owner, so they are quite good to have around as a warning system."

Charlie interrupted. "That´s not why we bought him though. We thought you ought to have a pet and this one was just perfect. We know you couldn´t take a pet before, because you couldn´t look after it properly." He shot an angry look at the oblivious Potters. After a bit of explanation from the twins he had understood why Jenna didn´t dare to buy a pet. Forcing his face into a pleasant expression again he continued. "But this one doesn´t take up much space and all he needs is a little water every day to bathe his antenna in. He´s not very noticable either."

Jenna raised a disbelieving eyebrow and looked pointedly at the fiery creature. Charlie winced and added sheepishly. "Yes, well we hadn´t quite counted on _that_ particular colour." Amending his words quickly he added. "But it is still a small animal and not likely to be seen if you hide him in your robes." Jenna didn´t look convinced but let it go for the moment.

Fred amused himself by sticking out a finger to stroke the little guy. Apparantly he wasn´t considered a threat, because all the beastie did was squeak and hop closer to the finger. "What are you gonna call him, kitten?"

"Hmm." Jenna looked at the little creature and his strange colouring. "I don´t know why, but his name is Izzy. He just looks like an Izzy. What do you think? You like it?" She asked the animal.

He squeaked in response and Jenna smiled. "Izzy it is."

After a few minutes of playing with the small fireball, George nudged Jenna. "You can play with him later. Open our gift now, go on!"

Bill and Charlie leaned a bit closer, curious about the gift that the twins had been so nervous about. In Diagon Alley Fred and George had gone off to buy something for their girlfriend and refused to tell what they had found, no matter how much bribes Bill and Charlie offered. Charlie had seen his little brothers were a bit unsure about their gift though as had Bill. The two oldest Weasley brothers had a hunch what it could be and now they would find out if they were right.

With a laugh Jenna grabbed her last gift and opened the small box. Two nearly identical rings glowed back at her. They were black, with silvercoloured Celtic runes on them. The only difference between the two rings was that one of them had an ingraved letter ´F´ and the other a magnificent ´G´.

Speechless Jenna looked at her boyfriends. "Is..are y..I mean." She stuttered.

Fred took out the ´F´-ring and held it out. "This is a promise ring, Jen. This is my promise to stay with you and one day ask for your hand in bonding. Will you wear my ring and accept my promise?"

Lightheaded with joy Jenna nodded and felt Fred slip the ring on her lefthand ringfinger. From her other side George called out softly. "Love, look at me."

She turned and saw him with the other ring ready. "My promise joins my brother´s. Your present was to bare your deepest secret to us. Mine is to promise you I will guard it and guard you for the rest of my life. Will you wear my ring and accept my promise?"

"Yes." Jenna had finally gotten her voice back, though her hands still shook as George slid the ring with the sparkling G´on her righthand ringfinger. He placed a kiss on her trembling hand and smiled gently.

"Thank you."

Bill and Charlie exchanged amused glances as Jenna pulled her boys into heated kisses of thanks and promise. They had guessed the gift right.

END CHAPTER TWENTY

N.B. About wuppies. I got the idea from the stuffed animal mascottes that look the same in real life as in my description in the story, only obviously in the real world they are not alive. Dutch readers will undoubtably know of what I´m speaking as they were EVERYWHERE with the word cup festivities. I don´t know if they exist in other countries (My friend Lady-LunaPotter didn´t recognise them, so they aren´t well known in her part of Sweden at least.) It doesn´t really matter, but I have ALWAYS wanted one of my wuppies to suddenly spring to life (they really are very cute).

Thanks for all the reviews. I´m sorry it took a while before I could post this chappie, but I´m quite busy at the moment. Still, your encouragement keeps me working at the story. :D


	22. Chapter 21

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

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thoughts´

"talking English"

°°Vampire language, also called Vampiric Mot°°

House-elf language, also called Gaëla

# Language of the Werewolves, also called Grawl #

/Language of the Goblins, also called Gobbledegook/

§ Centaur language, also called Starwan §

****

Written language

__

LAST CHAPTER

Fred took out the ´F´-ring and held it out. "This is a promise ring, Jen. This is my promise to stay with you and one day ask for your hand in bonding. Will you wear my ring and accept my promise?"

Lightheaded with joy Jenna nodded and felt Fred slip the ring on her lefthand ringfinger. From her other side George called out softly. "Love, look at me."

She turned and saw him with the other ring ready. "My promise joins my brother´s. Your present was to bare your deepest secret to us. Mine is to promise you I will guard it and guard you for the rest of my life. Will you wear my ring and accept my promise?"

"Yes." Jenna had finally gotten her voice back, though her hands still shook as George slid the ring with the sparkling G´on her righthand ringfinger. He placed a kiss on her trembling hand and smiled gently.

"Thank you."

Bill and Charlie exchanged amused glances as Jenna pulled her boys into heated kisses of thanks and promise. They had guessed the gift right.

"NO!"

Mrs Weasley sighed in exasperation. "Be reasonable, Fred. James and Lily have missed their daughter very much and want her to spend some time with them as well. It would be cruel to keep the family apart the entire holiday."

"No, she´s not going. And if she is, then I´m going with her." George nodded his agreement. He kept quiet, because once Fred was on a roll he was hard to interrupt. George glanced at his brother and winced. Fred was fuming.

Not that George wasn´t angry either. He was furious with his parents and the Potters. After a wonderful night of unpacking gifts and making fun, the Potters had announced they were going back to their Castle.

And they were taking Jenna with them.

"Mum, surely you´ve seen they don´t like her. Look at how they treated her at dinner. They barely said a word to her and Galen _hates_ her! Please mum, she doesn´t want to go."

Mrs Weasley looked uneasy for a second. She wasn´t blind and she had seen many things that didn´t quite fit, like the lack of money in Jenna´s vault and the way Lily and James spoke unkindly about their daughter. But did she have the right to keep the child away from her parents? Even if she suspected they didn´t care for her?

As soon as the thought entered her mind, Mrs Weasley chastised herself for thinking ill of the Potters. She didn´t know them all that well, but Albus was always talking about how wonderful they were. Who was she to lay judgement on such important people? Especially on just a day of observations. Surely Albus would have picked up on something wrong in the house-hold.

Giving her sons a look that made clear she wanted no more trouble, Mrs Weasley said sharply. "That is enough Fredrick. Jenna will go with her parents and you will see her again in a few days during the New Year´s celebration. I want to hear no more about it."

Defeated Fred looked at Jenna, who had just entered the kitchen. "I´m sorry, kitten."

Giving them an attempt at a smile that couldn´t quite hide her trepidation, Jenna nodded. She was about to walk to her room to get her luggage when she remembered something. "Oh, I almost forgot."

Jenna walked back into the room and put a small wrapped box on the counter in front of the Weasley Matriarch. A short spell later it was back to its original size and Jenna pushed it to the older woman. With a somewhat bitter smile, she said. "For letting me stay here." And then fled the kitchen.

Mrs Weasley looked stricken at the empty doorway and at her two sons, who chased after their upset girlfriend. Then her gaze fell back to the present in her hands. With trembling hands she opened it, her guilt muliplying when she caught sight of the golden goblet decorated with the Weasley Crest. Two rusty swords crossed each other over a flowing river of clear blue water. Underneath the colourful, moving picture were four three words that she had always held close to her heart since she married into the Weasley family. The Weasley Motto.

****

"POUR LES ENFANTS"

She dropped her head into her hands in shame as the words echoed in her mind. _´For the children..´_

The walk to the fireplace was more like a funeral procession than a mere goodbye for a few days. Jenna masked her fear and used her last minutes in the Burrow to stay as close to Fred and George as she could. They too were unwilling to let her go very far, so that worked out well.

Bringing a hand to her shoulder, where Izzy was humming contently, Jenna picked the little animal up and nuzzled him. Izzy squeaked happily which turned to distress when Jenna handed him to George. "I´m sorry Izzy, but it is too dangerous for you in the Potter Castle. I´ll see you again in a few days." Jenna tried to explain to the little guy, but the wuppy just kept squeaking in alarm.

Finally Jenna sighed and put him back on her shoulder where Izzy tried to dig himself in the dress to avoid being removed again. "Well, that didn´t work. But Galen will try to hurt him undoubtably. ..hmm Maybe I can ask the House- elves for help."

Her musings were cut off by an impatient yell. "You have two minutes to come here, before I come get you."

Jenna sighed and looked at the depressed looking twins. "I guess I´ll see you in a few days. Love you." Giving them both a short kiss, Jenna ran to the livingroom.

Mrs Weasley looked drawn and refused to meet Jenna´s eyes. The older woman´s face paled just that little more at James´ harsh words. "Finally. You know I don´t like waiting. Now go on." He motioned to the fireplace agitatedly.

With a fake smile and a hug to Bill and Charlie and a stiff goodbye to the other Weasley´s, Jenna threw a hand of floo-powder in the fireplace and yelled "Potter Castle."

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

´_Four more days_.´

Jenna sighed. Four more days until the New Year´s party. Four more days until she would be safe again for a day.

Her eyes travelled over her dark room and she shivered. At least she was out of the Cupboard now. As she had expected, James had not been pleased with her behavior at all. So when she first came out of the fire-place he had put his hand in her neck and not so gently guided her to his office. There followed a three hour rant of everything she had done wrong. How she had been unrespectful to the Weasley´s and the teachers. How he had received complaints from Minerva McGonagall for cheating. How horribly she had treated her brother at Hogwarts. It didn´t stop.

Despite knowing it wasn´t true, it hit Jenna hard. She managed to keep the hurt of her face by using her Occlumency, but after three hours she felt about two inches tall. Luckily James hadn´t noticed her weakness, but instead he started berating her for not even being repentant and decided she needed some more time in the cupboard.

Mipsy had been on guard for that to happen and immediately made Jenna as comfortable as possible in the small space. She couldn´t give Jenna a sleeping draught, because James had not stocked new ones and the House-Elves were forbidden to make purchases without their Master´s consent. Not even Mipsy could go around that fact.

Still it had been somewhat bearable. Jenna had known the minute James had announced she would come ´home´, that it would lead to this. She had been able to prepare herself a bit and, though still terrified, made it through the punishment without hyperventilating.

That was yesterday and now Jenna just kept out of the way of her family. That suited everybody best. Letting out a sigh, Jenna thought about the irony of the situation. She was pulled out of a place she liked and where people actually wanted her around, to go to a place she hated, only to have everyone pretend and wish she wasn´t there at all. Not very logical. But nothing ever was if it came to Galen.

Jenna knew he was the reason James and Lily had taken her home, while they were more than unhappy about having her around. She didn´t know exactly what her brother had said or why, but evidentally he had gotten what he wanted if the smug look on Galen´s face was any indication.

Well, at least they hadn´t noticed Izzy yet. Jenna ran a gentle finger over the small animal and he squeaked in response. Unable to surpress a smile, Jenna did it again. It was so simple to make Izzy happy. Her smile faded as she thought about what would happen if Galen ever found him.

A yell from the boy in question broke her out of her reverie.

"UNCLE REMUS!"

Blinking in surprise, Jenna walked closer to her door and opened it slightly to listen to the voices downstairs in the hall. "Hey cub. I´ve got a late Christmaspresent for you." Remus Lupin´s controlled and caring voice drifted up to Jenna´s room easily. But instead of having a calming influence, the words rattled her and a familiar ire rose in Jenna.

It wasn´t even that she didn´t like the man. She did. At least she did when she was little. Uncle Remus had always been patient with her, even during the tantrums she threw to get her parent´s attention. He had spent more time with his godson, Galen, than with her, but Jenna had loved the Werewolf.

And that was where the problem was. Werewolf.

When Jenna had first started her lessons with Alpha Grahm, she had been overjoyed. She was learning about the way of her Uncle. But slowly she came to understand that uncle Remus wasn´t like the people in the Pack. He didn´t dance and howl for the moon, he didn´t relish a good hunt when the wolves inside broke loose. Instead he chose to hide who he was, denying his own gift.

One day she had asked Alpha Grahm about it and the answer was burned into her mind as one of her worst memories.

FLASHBACK

Alpha Grahm looked at the confused child with sad eyes. #He hides, you say? He doesn´t worship the moon?#

The older man gathered the six-year old in his arms and spoke with solemn words. #Then he is not a True Lycan. He rejects his heritage, his inner wolf. He is one of the Loners, ashamed of himself and of his people. You must never tell him about us, or he will try to take you away from here.#

Looking in the watery, doubtful eyes of the girl he formulated his words in a way that she would understand. #Loners are not Pack. He is not Pack.#

Grahm saw the words hit home and comforted the now sobbing girl. He sighed and nodded to himself. She understood.

END FLASHBACK

That had caused the first break between Jenna and her ´Uncle´. Jenna became more distant than before. It had been pounded into her head that any Werewolf outside the Pack was considered an enemy. It hurt her more than she let on, but slowly and surely she tried to let him go. She had thought of him as Pack and to find out he wasn´t….As unfair as it was to her Uncle, Jenna felt betrayed. Moony should have been Pack and then everything would have been okay. But he wasn´t.

The real problems came when Jenna received her bite. Then the knowledge she shouldn´t be around Remus was backed up with healthy wolf instincts. Her instincts screamed at her to defend her territory every time the Loner came within her vincinity and only the threat of a possible retribution from Alpha kept her in control.

Likewise, the Loner had become very wary around her since her bite. He often looked at her in confusion as if he didn´t quite know what to make of her, but recognised the glint in her eyes enough to stay away.

Fighting down a growl, Jenna listened to the conversation as it went on.

"What did you get m..UNCLE SIRIUS!"

Unlike the earlier exclamation, this one was a welcome one. Her godfather was here! Uncle Padfoot was a good man. He was not the sharpest crayon in the box, but Jenna didn´t care. This was one of the only people she liked around here, even if they didn´t spend much time together.

The energetic blackhaired man was so much like his animagusform, that as long as Jenna could remember she had called him Uncle Padfoot, after his animalname. For some reason James and Lily found fault in her stubborn use of the nickname, but couldn´t actually do anything about it since Sirius was absolutely delighted with the little girl calling for Unca Pafoo´.

Galen had picked up on their dislike and had started calling him Uncle Sirius at a young age, preening under his parent´s approving looks. Now, Jenna was the only one to call the blackhaired man by his nickname and secretely she loved it. Whenever she called him Padfoot and he responded by calling her ´puppy´ she felt that she had a special bond with him. Besides, it was ridiculous to call that man anything even resembling the word ´serious´. He himself was like a big puppy, bounding from here to there, wagging his tail and making fun everywhere. He doted on his goddaughter, but was so easily distracted he didn´t notice the way James, Lily and Galen manipulated him away from Jenna time after time.

Sometimes when Jenna was once again left alone, despite his promises to spend the day with her, she got angry. But when he bounded into the room the next time and looked at her with those big blue eyes filled with honest adoration and oblivious to the way he had hurt her, Jenna found she couldn´t stay mad. He was completely blind to the way´s of the other Potters, but nothing could destroy his love for her.

And she loved him for it.

Tuning in to the voices again Jenna was just in time to hear Padfoot answer.

"Hey there Prongslet. I see you´ve gotten your present already. Now where is that sister of yours? I have her present right here."

Jenna´s heart soared. She knew it! Padfoot had remembered her! Her excitement faded at James´ next words.

"Hey there Remmy, Siri. Why don´t you give your present later? Galen and I were just going to play a game of quidditch. I don´t suppose you want to join?"

"What, and miss seeing you make an ass out of yourself on a broom?" Padfoot joked. "Of course we´re in!"

As the group walked away Jenna shook her head. Sweet, stupid Padfoot. He always fell for their diversions. She turned back to her bed and grabbed a book on animagustransformation to go over it one more times. After weeks of begging she was finally going to be allowed to transform and she wanted everything to go right. She wouldn´t let Master down. At least _he_ wouldn´t go out to play Quidditch at the last minute, a little voice spoke sarcastically in the back of her mind.

A knock on her door made Jenna look up a few hours later. She had moved on to studying wordless spells, but she was stuck. The theory was easy to understand but the practical was so hard.

Master couldn´t help her with this, because he wasn´t that good at them either and the lack of succes was beginning to frustrate them both. So with a relieved sigh, she threw the book to the side and calmly called.

"Come in."

Her eyes lit up at the mischievous blue eyes that sparkled their usual joy at her. "Hey there pup. I´ve got your pressie. Want to see it?" Padfoot said teasingly.

Playing along, Jenna jumped up. "Yes yes yes. C´mon Paddy, gimme my pressie." Mentally she smiled. Padfoot could always make her feel like a carefree child with his games and jokes. He was the only one who could incite her to play around like this.

"Easy there. You have to be a good puppy, because good pu…Ah that´s just mean." Padfoot whined as he looked at his pouting goddaughter. She knew very well she could get him to do almost anything like this.

When he hadn´t crumbled yet after ten seconds, Jenna let her eyes grow big and watery and added a small tremble to her pout. It worked immediately.

Padfoot jumped forward and slung his arm around his ´niece´. "Here´s your pressie, pup. Don´t be sad. Oh I´m such a doormat." He groaned pathetically to himself as he saw his goddaughter tear into the paper with glee, no trace of the previous pitiful expression left.

He watched with satisfaction as Jenna´s eyes lit up. "Wow, a crystal pyramid puzzel! Cool. And look, it says that if you finish it, you can make one wish and it will come true."

"Yup" Padfoot said proudly. "It said not to give it to anyone under twenty-one, because it´s so hard, but I´m sure _my_ goddaughter can do it. Right?"

Jenna laughed. "Of course Paddy. I can do it."

"I knew it!" He cried as he let himself flop down on the bed. "I have a genius goddaughter."

When Jenna sank down on the bed beside him and discreetly cast a silencing charm on the room. If Padfoot couldn´t hear the other Potters calling for him, they couldn´t distract him away from her. With a selfsatisfied smile Jenna leaned into the man next to her, the selfish feeling of having his attention all to herself warming her whole body.

Padfoot wriggled around a bit. "I´m lying on something…" With flourish he pulled out the book Jenna had been reading for the past half an hour.Curiously, Padfoot peered at the title of the book. He arched an eyebrow. "You´re trying to cast wordless spells?"

Cursing mentally, Jenna tried to think of a way out. He wasn´t supposed to see that. Padfoot couldn´t know about her Apprenticeship, he would tell James and Lily in a second! Grasping at the only thing she could come up with, she forced a sheepish smile on her face. "You weren´t supposed to see that. I..I wanted to learn silent spells so that I could prank the Slytherins, but…"

She let out a sigh of relief, when Padfoot immediately latched on to the idea, no trace of suspicion on his face. "Oooh, my puppy is following in her godfather´s footsteps! I´m so proud of you." He said with glee, eyes already clouded as he thought of his own pranks in Hogwarts.

With a hidden smile, Jenna asked innocently. "So you can do silent spells? Could you teach me? But you can´t tell anyone, not even James, Lily, Galen or Remus. I want to surprise them." Maybe this little accident would turn out for the best. Master couldn´t teach her silent spells, and Bill, Charlie, Fred and George had already told her they had no talent for it either. But Padfoot…

"Of course! I´ll teach you and it´ll be our little secret." Padfoot grinned. "Now, what is it that you don´t understand?"

The rest of the afternoon Padfoot rambled about anything and everything in an attempt to explain how he did silent spells. He was very enthousiastic, but after two hours Jenna was exhausted. It was very hard to keep up with a man who jumped from one subject to another in the blink of an eye.

At the end of the lesson, Jenna had lost her hope that this might be the way to get it right. Padfoot simply was a terrible teacher.

"Hmm, maybe if you make another wave with your wand when you think the spell? NO, no wait I´ve got a better idea, maybe you should think the words backwards. If you can´t do it the normal way, you should try something different. Or mayb.." Jenna cut her godfather off in his, still excited, flow of words.

"I think I need a bit of rest, Paddy. We´ve been going at it for a long time."

A bit put out, Padfoot nodded. "Alright. Still I think it might work if you…"

"NO!"

Padfoot pouted.

In an effort to cheer him up again, Jenna said. "It´s nearly time for dinner anyway. Why don´t we go downstairs. You must be hungry."

Jenna knew her parents wouldn´t accept it, if she tried to eat on her own. Once, when she was seven, she had been locked in her room when the two Uncle´s came by. An oblivious Sirius had asked why she wasn´t there. Unable to come up with a good lie, James had said she was on her way and proceeded to drag her down the stairs with a whispered warning to behave. After that James and Lily always made sure she attended dinner if her Uncle´s were there.

Padfoot brightened immediately. "Yeah! Oh I wonder what Lily has cooked."

With a shake of her head, Jenna led her friend down the stairs. Did he really believe Lily cooked those wonderful meals? When the Potters had a legion of House-Elves? _´Not the sharpest crayon. No, absolutely not.´_ She thought with a fond smile.

After Padfoot´s leave, Jenna kept quiet and out of the way of her relatives. No reason to draw unwanted attention to herself, especially with James and Lily so stressed out about arranging everything perfectly for the New Year´s Party. It would be a big party, held in the Potter Ballroom. People from all the Light Pureblood family´s were coming and it took a lot of preparation.

Unable to stem her curiosity, Jenna had taken a peek at the guestlist. To her surprise and delight, the Boot family was attending. She hadn´t forgotten what Jeremiah Boot had said about his sons. Terry was infatuated with Galen, but Trowan wasn´t. Now, she had to admit she had absolutely no idea who Trowan Boot was, but if he liked her, she might gain some more allies in Hogwarts!

The other families weren´t really surprising or welcome to her. Patil, Longbottom, Bell, Bones, Abbott. With a sneer of disgust Jenna saw that Minister Fudge was invited, along with all the Hogwarts staff. Except Master of course. And Trelawny.

No, the only other interesting people would be the Weasley´s and Paddy. Jenna smiled. They were more than enough for her. With a longing sigh, she sneaked back to her room just in time to avoid being seen by James.

__

´Only one more day´

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Jenna stood in the Entrance Hall, an expectant look on her face. It was custom for the hosting family to greet the guests as they flooed in. James and Lily were the first in the line, both dressed in fancy blue robes. Galen was next, all primped up and looking very pleased with himself. He had managed to convince Lily to buy an shimmering golden robe. Though it was very beautiful, Jenna couldn´t help but try to avoid looking at it. It was very flashy and she got a headache from the glow.

Jenna wore the same dress as she had worn on Christmas. It was her nicest clothing and she didn´t care that she had already worn it before, as Lily had pointed out rudely. Unlike last time Jenna had added a stylish black cloak to finish the look. She had gotten many strange looks from the guests as the only one not wearing dressrobes, but a Mugglestyle dress with a cloak. Jenna didn´t care. She knew she looked good and the many appreciative eyes of the younger purebloods only served to prove her right.

Again the fireplace roared its green fire and a very welcome figure stepped out. Jeremiah Boot looked around and when he caught the eye of the one he was looking for he gave her a quick grin. Jenna grinned back freely.

The fire roared two more times, admitting a tall blackhaired boy and a shorter brownhaired one. Jenna recognised the smaller one as Terry Boot, a boy from her year. To her irritation he looked around as well and then proceeded to stare in awe at Galen. As she had predicted Galen noticed the blatant staring and shot a charming smile at the young Ravenclaw. Within minutes they were talking amiably as if they´d been friends for years.

A sharp sting of envy attacked Jenna as she watched Galen make another friend easily. She wanted that too… Her eyes fell on the older Boot brother who eyed her as if he knew exactly what was going through her mind. Jenna blushed fiercely and averted her gaze. Instead she watched how the boys´ father talked to her parents.

Jeremiah stepped forward with a jovial grin and greeted James and Lily. "Good evening Mr Potter, Mrs Potter. Once again thank you for your kind invitation. My name is Jeremiah Boot and these are my two sons, Terry and Trowan."

James smiled back. "Good to meet you. Obviously you already know us, so let me introduce my son Galen. Although you knew that as well, I´m sure." He added with a wink.

With a chuckle that sounded a bit forced, Jeremiah nodded. "Yes, yes of course. And this is your other child?" He asked, gesturing to Jenna.

Enthusiasm curbed, James nodded. "Yes, this is my daughter Jenaya." The words sounded almost painful and Jenna relished in sending a big glare to him. Of course she only did it to his back when she was sure he wouldn´t see, but it still felt great.

Trying to regain her composure and in an attempt to steer the conversation to more pleasant subjects, Lily asked about Mr. Boot´s work which led to a polite, but distant conversation as was expected in these upperclass parties.

After ten minutes Jenna could no longer even fake interest in the boring talk and decided to actually face the boy that hadn't stopped his knowing stare. Dark blue eyes looked at her piercingly until they smiled at her. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Trowan."

Jenna sent back a smile, though it wasn't as blinding as usual. "Hi, eh Jenaya. I mean, I'm Jenaya. Call me Jenna."

He gave a halfsmile. "I prefer your full name." And then he just looked at her again.

Determined not to fidget, as that was not becoming of a young lady, Jenna met his gaze defiantly. So what if he had caught her trying to kill her brother by using the glare of death? So what if she was just a teeny tiny bit jealous?

She was so caught up in trying to appear defiant and selfconfident that it was almost a surprise when he spoke again. "I am not accusing you, Jenaya. No need to go on the defense." His words were soft and clearly not meant to be overheard by anyone.

Startled, Jenna opened her mouth to reply. And shut it again. She had no idea how to deal with this verbal adversary. He wasn't accusing, he said. That was okay then right? But did he really see through her masks so easily or was he just faking his knowledge?

As a result of her confusion she merely answered with a quiet. "Oh."

The darkhaired boy laughed and kissed her hand in proper etiquette. "I'm afraid I have to make room for the next guests who wish to speak with the hosts." Jenna glanced at the fireplace and sure enough, a few seconds later it flared up to announce a new visitor. She looked at him confused. How could he have known, or was this also just a guess?

Trowan continued undisturbed. "But I would very much like to talk to you later this evening.." His eyes glazed over for a second and he winced slightly as if a particularly nasty thought suddenly came to him and then amended."..or maybe after the holidays." He looked at her in indecision before finally murmering vaguely. "Do not worry Jenaya. Midnight will pass." With a last, comforting and slightly pitying look he walked off to mingle with the other guests.

Jenna looked at his retreating form and shook her head. There was something very, very strange about that Ravenclaw. It was like…he Knew things. Her mind quickly ran over the possible explanations until she found a reasonably acceptable one. It was unlikely, but maybe…

Jeremiah Boot had just finished his little talk with the Potter´s when he saw his eldest walk off, leaving a stunned looking Pottergirl in his wake. He grinned, Trowan often had that effect on people. He watched with interest as the young girl narrowed her eyes in thought, until they widened in surprise. A proud smile appeared on his face when he heard her murmer uncertainly. "…Seer?"

Chuckling he walked to the other guests. The girl was among the fastest to work it out. Ravenclaw material if he ever saw one. Pity she was a Gryff.

END CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

A/N I was going to write the whole party in this chapter, but it would have become too long and you all would have killed me for making a cliff-hanger. So, sorry, next part of the party in the next chappie.

How did you like Remus and Padfoot? I finally managed to write them in. I wanted to make clear that Padfoot loves Jenna very much, but his loyalty is with the Potters (for now). That´s why Jenna hasn´t told him about her tattoo´s and Master for instance. And Remus isn´t a bad person, but he will never be a friend of Jenna´s because that would go against both their wolfinstincts.

Ehm, oh right. How did you like Trowan? I had already finished this chappie, when I read it over once more and suddenly I had to write him to be a Seer, isn´t that surprising?

I received a review from one of my readers a while ago that Jenna was becoming a bit too perfect. That´s why I made her bad at silent spells and later I made her jealous of her brother. I think in the real world you can´t live like Jenna and not be a bit envious. I hope it made her more human and that my dear reviewer is happy. :D

I´m having a bit of trouble with the next chapter and since school has started again, I will update less than before. Sorry, but I really have a busy life.


	23. Chapter 22

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except for my character Jenaya Potter 

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

_thoughts_´

"talking English"

°°Vampire language, also called Vampiric Mot°°

House-elf language, also called Gaëla

# Language of the Werewolves, also called Grawl #

/Language of the Goblins, also called Gobbledegook/

§ Centaur language, also called Starwan §

**Written language**

_ LAST CHAPTER_

_Trowan continued undisturbed. "But I would very much like to talk to you later this evening.." His eyes glazed over for a second and he winced slightly as if a particularly nasty thought suddenly came to him and then amended. "..or maybe after the holidays." He looked at her in indecision before finally murmering vaguely. "Don´t worry Jenna. Midnight will pass." With a last, comforting and slightly pitying look he walked off to mingle with the other guests._

_Jenna looked at his retreating form and shook her head. There was something very, very strange about that Ravenclaw. It was like…he Knew things. Her mind quickly ran over the possible explanations until she found a reasonably acceptable one. It was unlikely, but maybe…_

_Jeremiah Boot had just finished his little talk with the Potter´s when he saw his eldest walk off, leaving a stunned looking Pottergirl in his wake. He grinned, Trowan often had that effect on people. He watched with interest as the young girl narrowed her eyes in thought, until they widened in surprise. A proud smile appeared on his face when he heard her murmer uncertainly. "…Seer?"_

_Chuckling he walked to the other guests. The girl was among the fastest to work it out. Ravenclaw material if he ever saw one. Pity she was a Gryff._

Another hour later Jenna was tired and moody. If she had to say one more polite "Good evening sir" she was gonna scream. The sight of the redheaded family stumbling out of the fireplace had her nearly crying in relief. They were the last to arrive and now she could just spend a nice evening with her boyfriends.

Fred stepped out of the fire, his face lighting up when he saw Jenna. "Hey there kitten."

Not even thinking about proper etiquette, Jenna flew forward to hug him and whispered gratefully. "Thankyou, thankyou thankyou for coming, I don´t want to stand here anymore. Ugh I´m so tired."

With a small peck on his lips, Jenna left his arms to hug George. "Hmm you smell nice." Jenna sighed happily as she breathed in the familiar scent of her boyfriend. A bit of gunpowder from his latest explosion from the prankexperiments and fresh air from playing Quidditch.

George growled softly and squeezed her tighter to himself. He met Fred´s gaze and received a nod in return. Without sparing the glaring Potters another thought, the twins each linked an arm with Jenna and frogmarched her out of the room, to the quiet freedom of the garden. Jenna shot the oldest Weasley brothers a quick smile and let herself be dragged away with a happy, flushed face.

Bill smirked and whispered to his younger brother. "I think we should keep the other guests from the garden tonight otherwise they might get an eyeful."

Charlie snickered and nodded. He politely excused himself from the company shortly after that to spend some time with Mark Bones, a former yearmate of him. He let a sigh escape his lips when he was out of hearingrange. These parties were always so incredibly boring.

Jenna was just catching her breath again when the noise inside the house became louder. She was surprised for a moment until her eyes caught the time on her magical watch. Ah, it´s nearing midnight. Only fifteen minutes left. Damn, time sure does flies when you´re having fun!´ She glanced briefly at the well lit Castle before looking back at a much more interesting view. Fred and George looked…to be honest they looked well shagged. Jenna let a small, proud smile cross her face. It was because of her kisses and her touching that they looked so flushed and exhausted.

She spared a brief thought about what a sight she must be herself, with halfnaked and draped over the bodies of two young men. She lifted a hand to her lips and touched the swollen and sensitive skin. Her boys sure knew how to kiss!

Fred had obviously regained enough of his braincapacity to speak. "Have I told you tonight how much I´ve missed you?"

Jenna laughed. "I got the message, yes."

"Good." Fred gently rubbed her stomach for a few minutes before he broke the silence again. "I think we should get decent. It´s almost midnight and the others will be coming outside soon to watch the fireworks."

He gave Jenna´s neck a nip and said seriously. "And nobody else gets to see you like this."

Smiling brightly Jenna nodded. "Nobody but you and George." She glanced at the still form of the other twin and said faintly concerned. "You know I heard that sometimes you can pass out from extreme pleasure, but George is taking it to a whole new level. I don´t think a handjob and kissing is classified as extreme pleasure."

George cracked open an eye and whispered cheekily. "It is with you!"

Jenna smacked him across the head. "You were awake all along weren´t you?" Not even waiting for an answer Jenna shook her head in mirth. "I guess I should know better than to trust you two on anything."

Two offended "Hey!"´s followed her exclamation and sent her in new fits of laughter. Getting dressed was a bit more difficult because of it, but finally all three looked like they had at the beginning of the party. And just in time too.

The doors of the Castle opened and a large crowd of people walked into the garden, trying to find the best spot to watch the fireworks.

Jenna had already pulled her boys to a secluded part of the garden, without any trees to hinder their view of the sky. She leaned back into George´s chest and shivered with anticipation. For as long as she could remember she had been entranced with the bright colours of fireworks and the loud sounds that accompanied them.

And then it began, the countdown. A large number ten appeared magically in the air, announcing that in ten seconds, the House-Elves would fire the first off the immense amount of fireworks they had bought.

As one the gathered wizards and witches bellowed "TEN!"

Jenna yelled along with them, feeling her excitement build. Fred chuckled at her enthousiasm, but didn´t hold back his yells either.

"NINE!"

Her eyes wandered over the happy faces and she laughed out loud at seeing Charlie nearly bouncing on his feet with Bill trying to reign him in a bit.

"EIGHT!"

Galen looked happy as well, Jenna noticed. She knew how to read her brother very well and while he was almost always smiling, it always seemed a bit fake. Oh he was usually happy enough, but his smiles were designed for charming people. Trained like a good golden boy.

This innocent, childish glee was something she rarely saw.

"SEVEN!"

A small stab of pain in her head caught Jenna offguard. Confused and a bit uneasy she looked around, as if to somehow spot the cause of her pain.

"SIX!"

Another stab, fiercer than the first assaulted her and she held back a whimper.

"FIVE!"

Stab! She squeezed her eyes shut. This time she couldn´t keep her pained moan in and she felt Fred and George´s concerned gaze on her.

"FOUR!"

And just like that, the pain stopped. With a sigh of relief Jenna opened her eyes and found herself caught in the penetrating gaze of Trowan Boot. Unable to break the connection, she stared.

"THREE!"

His stare was so intense, like he was trying to say something. To warn her. A horrible, sinking feeling in her stomach replaced the relief. His earlier words came back to her with a vengeance. "_Don´t worry. Midnight will pass._"

"TWO!"

What was going to happen at midnight? What had he Seen?

"ONE!"

Jenna knew there was something very, very wrong…

"**ZERO!**"

PAIN. PAIN beyond anything she had ever felt exploded behind Jenna´s eyelids. An anguished scream was ripped from her throat, alerting the cheering crowd that something was wrong. 

Jenna howled again and her hands flew to her head to protect it from the attack. It was like a giant axe was chopping away at her head, trying to pick his way into her mind. Similar to the stabs of pain and danger she had felt earlier in Hogwarts only much, much stronger.

Even in her foggy, delirious state Jenna knew she couldn´t give in. The force was bad and evil and dangerous and…so painful. She let out a sobbing moan which turned into a highpitched shriek when the force gave another blow. With the shock came a brief moment of clarity and she connected the dots. Voldemort. That was the name of the person trying to destroy her. She had to tell Master he was back in full!

But before she could come up with a plan to let him know she was once again pulled back in the sea of excruciating pain and terror. Uncoherent pleadings for it to stop spilled unchecked from her lips in between of the screams and pained moans.

A shiver ran through her and it took Jenna a few seconds to regain enough sense to realise what it had meant. ´_My Occlumency shields! Failing! Hurts..oooooh want Stop pleaseplease Master help!_´

She was too out of it to notice that the portkey that she always wore, her angelnecklace, actived. If she had been thinking rationally she would have remembered that "Master help" was the password she had set for the piece of jewellery.

But as she teleported to Snape Manor with two frantic redheads in tow, she noticed nothing but her shields finally shattering under the formidable force and her surrender to unconciousness.

000000000000000000

Jenna groggily forced her eyes open and looked around. Black. Everything was black. With waking came the strange realisation that this was impossible. She was lying down, but there was nothing under her. Yet she knew with certainty she wasn´t falling or flying.

Her unease grew as she couldn´t make out anything but the darkness. No walls, no sky, no sounds, not even her own body. She scrambled up and walked a few paces, unnerved to feel no floor under her invisible feet.

"H-hello?" Her voice sounded lost even to her own ears.

The void seemed to seemed to ripple and a feeling of contentment flooded Jenna. She felt good like she had done something to be proud of. Emboldent she spoke up again.

"Is anybody there?" The void rippled again and again she felt the reassurance flow through her body. Her mind supplied the information that something strange was going on, that she shouldn´t try to gain that feeling from a black void, but her body didn´t want to cooperate. It just wanted to feel good again.

A slight pressure on her shoulders made her frown. What did the void want? Again a pressure on her shoulders, heavier this time, made her knees buckle. She could only just avoid falling to her knees. The void rippled. A feeling of someone´s disappointment in her had her cringing. She didn´t want the void to be mad at her. Maybe she should just kneel if he wanted that. He was all she had!

Jenna shook her head free of the trance. No that wasn´t true. She had Fred and George and Bill and Mast…A sharp pain sliced through her body and for the first time the void spoke. "You have no Master but me, my pet."

"Wh-what?" Jenna cringed again as a new wave of disappointment, mixed with anger ran through her.

"Did I give you permission to speak, my pet?" The voice was just like the void. Dark and unforbidding.

"No." Her voice was timid again and seemed to please the voice.

"Good girl. You will be a wonderful pet." A feeling of happiness and belonging flooded Jenna and for a moment she could envision herself at the feet of this mighty man, his crimson eyes looking down at her with a possessive gaze. Her eyes clouded over. If he could make her feel this good…

She tried to fight, but it was so difficult. Every time she had cleared her mind a bit, images of her serving this man bombarded her, accompanied with a glorious feeling. Small flashes of disobedience accompanied by pain pushed her further into submission.  
Jenna panicked. She could feel herself fading. The void was erasing her memories and filling them with darkness. Playing with Sirius, laughing with Bill, meeting Cha…Charles? Was his name Charles? Who was he again? And why did the word ´Master´ make her think of a man with black hair and onyx eyes? Master had red eyes…

Red. Red hair. She knew someone with red hair. Two boys. Two important boys. Jenna  
felt like crying. She knew these boys were important to her, but she couldn´t remember their names. Instead she remembered how Master liked her to crawl before him, how to serve him, how to please him. How he liked to call her ´Pet´. He didn´t like calling her by her birth name…Her birthname…It was.Je. Jennifer? Jacky? Was it even with a J? Was she sure her birth name wasn´t Pet?

Pet screamed. She was losing something, losing herself and there was nothing she could do to stop it. She needed help. A distraction! HELP!

A flash of light had her nearly sobbing in relief. The void felt empty for a second, as if the person behind all this had turned his attention somewhere else. It gave Pet enough time to gather what was left of herself and build a thin resistance. When she felt the focus on herself again she was a bit more prepared for the onslaught of images and feelings.

Before void could break the newly resurrected wall, a flash once again interfered. The void growled and turned his attention completely to the flashes, giving Pet the chance to creep closer to the light.

FLASH. The void pushed. FLASH! The void pushed harder.

FLASH….FLASH….FLASH..FLASH.FLASHFLASHFLASH

With an angry cry the void drifted off, making place for the light. Pet looked up with caution as the light envelopped her. She could feel something come to rest in her mind and ever so slowly she started remembering. Her name wasn´t Pet, it was..J Jenna!

Jenna gasped triumphantically. The redheaded boys. Fred and George. Of course, how could she forget them? And Master. A brief thought of a man with scarlet eyes, flashed through her mind. Jenna shivered. NO! No, that man was not her Master. Her Master was sweet and cared for her. And. He. Had. Onyx. Eyes. NOT. RED! She breathed in deeply as she tried to place the familiar information back into her mind.

Just as she had sorted more of less everything, a whisper caught her attention. The small puff of black still remaining in the white, hissed a promise at her. "I will have you as my pet, Jenaya. You will be mine, willing or unwilling."

She almost froze at the malice and conviction in the voice. Terrified of losing her memories again Jenna blindly set off to the place where the light was brightest. Where the darkness couldn´t reach her.

She collapsed on her way there.  
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When Jenna opened her eyes, the first thing she saw were two pairs of worried eyes gaze down at her. It took her a few seconds to place them as belonging to her two boyfriends. ´Fred and George,´ Jenna remembered fondly. She was so caught up in the feeling of being with people that made her feel safe that she didn´t listen to a word they said. She didn´t even notice that they had begun to talk in their old shared speechpattern in their worry. 

"Hey there kitten…"

"how are you doing?"

"Do you need…."

"anything, can we…"

"get you anything…."

"to eat or drink?"

A deep, familiar voice shocked her out of her daze. _That_ was Master! Not the red eyes! "Misters Weasley, kindly give my Apprentice some space. I need to check her over for lasting damage."

Jenna frowned. "La..?" She had wanted to ask what had happened that he feared for lasting damage, but to her shock her voice was scratchy and it hurt to talk. 

Master reprimanded her sternly. "Don´t talk yet. You´ve almost screamed your vocal cords beyond repair." Jenna only heard him half. She was still trying to remember Master´s name. ´_NOno NOT the red eyed man. This is Master! This is the one I chose as Master! thisonethisonethisoneTHISONE.´_

The darkhaired potions Professor frowned at the absent, glazed look in his Apprentice´s eyes, but went on in a soothing voice. "I will not heal your throat, because your Vampire blood doesn´t allow for healing spells and there are no potions for things like this. It is unnecessary either way, because it will heal quickly on its own with your accelerated healing." 

Jenna went over the words. Yes, that sounded like the truth. The word Vampire called other thoughts to her mind. ´_Xele, High Prince, Sire, fighting, blood´_ Unable to make sense of the uncoördinated flood of thoughts, Jenna swayed, black spots entering her vision.

"Apprentice, focus on me. Don´t sleep yet. Yo..awak..st…ay…t sleep.." Master´s voice was muffled, like he was shouting agitatedly through a cloth. Jenna turned uncomprehending eyes to him and tried to reassure him, but she couldn´t find the words. She managed a smile and then, satisfied in the knowledge that she had soothed Master´s worries, Jenna let herself slip away in the pressing darkness of unconsciousness. 

END CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO


	24. Chapter 23

**Important!!! I had some trouble with writing this chapter. The reason was the Healer I had written about in the last chapter. I had plans for him, but they didn´t work, so I changed it. Then it still didn´t work, so I made him evil. And it didn´t work, so now he´s just not in the story anymore. I took him out and changed the last part of the last chapter, so please read that again. (It´s only changed from the point where Jenna wakes up after the attack.) Thank you for your patience!**

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except for my character Jenaya Potter

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

_´thoughts_´

"talking English"

°°Vampire language, also called Vampiric Mot°°

House-elf language, also called Gaëla

# Language of the Werewolves, also called Grawl #

/Language of the Goblins, also called Gobbledegook/

§ Centaur language, also called Starwan §

**Written language**

_LAST CHAPTER  
Jenna went over the words. Yes, that sounded like the truth. The word Vampire called other thoughts to her mind. ´Xele, High Prince, Sire, fighting, blood´ Unable to make sense of the uncoördinated flood of thoughts, Jenna swayed, black spots entering her vision._

_"Apprentice, focus on me. Don´t sleep yet. Yo..awak..st…ay…t sleep.." Master´s voice was muffled, like he was shouting agitatedly through a cloth. Jenna turned uncomprehending eyes to him and tried to reassure him, but she couldn´t find the words. She managed a smile and then, satisfied in the knowledge that she had soothed Master´s worries, Jenna let herself slip away in the pressing darkness of unconsciousness.  
_  
An insistent squeaking woke Jenna from her slumber. She was about to whip out her wand to silence the irritating alarmclock when she finally recognised the sound. ´I_t is..the little animal Bill and.. Charlie?_´ Jenna hestitated, cursing the fragile state of her memories. Nodding slightly to herself as she came to the conclusion she had the name right, she went on. ´_Yes, his name is Charlie. The sound is from the little animal Bill and Charlie gave me. And I named him Izzy. And he´s making a RACKET!_´

Jenna opened a bleary eye and stared straight into the overjoyed black eyes of Izzy. The little flufball was waggling over her body, obviously happy to see her again.

Instinctively Jenna smiled. She couldn´t really be angry at the little animal. He was the first pet…Jenna shot up at that word. ´_Pet! That´s what the Voice called me. Oh shit ohshitohshit what happened?_´

Her eyes shot around the room in a quest for answers and after a second or two her eyes widened in shock. What was she doing in…Jenna looked around and searched for the name of this familiar house.´_…Snape Manor! That´s where I am_.´ So what was she doing in Snape Manor of all places?

Her mind supplied the answer reasonably quickly. Portkey. She had used her emergency portkey when the Void started hurting her. ´_Falling, losing myself, Pet.. NO!_´ Jenna shoved the feelings away and concentrated instead on Izzy.

The little beastie gave a sound almost like a purr, but with a distinctive squeaky end. Jenna chuckled, thankful for the distraction. She knew that if she didn´t have anything to focus on, her mind would go back to thinking about that horrible Void.

The Void had done something and even though the Light had given her memories back, her mind wasn´t completely like it was before.

And that scared her.

She was pulled from her scrambled thoughts abruptly, when the door opened. Fear claimed her body as she waited to see who would come in. The familiar picture of Master – _see, Master does NOT have red eyes!_- was a welcome sight.

"Master!" Jenna couldn´t hide her relief. Master raised an inquisitive eyebrow, before walking towards a chair next to the bed. Jenna followed the imposing figure with eager eyes. Surely nothing could harm her while HE was here!

Her eye fell on the edge of the bed and Jenna started when she noticed a shock of red hair. A vague memory of the two boys´ worried faces caught up with her and her head swivelled to look at her other side. Sure enough, there was the other Weasley boy.

A blush of shame graced Jenna´s cheeks. She had been awake for at least half an hour and she hadn´t noticed that she was in bed with two others. Never before had she been this out of it. Looking from beneath her eyelashes, Jenna tried to estimate the level of Master´s anger. Surely he was furious for her inattentiveness.

What she saw was something she had rarely encountered before.

Master looked at her in concern. It wasn´t evident to just any person, but Jenna had years of practice in reading Master´s expressions. And without any doubt, he was concerned!

"How are you, Apprentice?" His voice was cold as usual, but even there Jenna could discern a tinge of caution.

She knew Master well enough to recognise he would not settle for a simple brush-off, so she answered honestly. "I´m..I´m so confused, Master. And I´m scared and everything is so fuzzy. And he made me forget everything and now..I don´t know anymore." Jenna lowered her head in shame of her weakness. Her voice had started out strong, but at the end of her confession it sounded as shaky as she felt.

Master hummed in contemplation. He tilted up her head and established eye-contact. With a gentle push of Legilimency he entered her mind, shocked to find her shields completely shattered. He moved around easily, observing the mess that was only days before a highly organised mind. The memory of the attack was difficult to find, but he wasn´t a Master Legilimens for nothing.

He pulled out and looked at the shaken girl. "I have seen enough. I will find a way to correct it." He stood up, intending to raid the library for information on a way to fix the girl´s shields and to prevent anything like this from happening again.

Jenna called out before he could walk away. "Please Master, what..? H-how?"

The dark man scowled and spoke reluctantly. "I believe the Dark Lord was reborn last night. At midnight, the position of Mars and Jupiter created a time frame in which some spells become particularly powerful. The Dark Lord must have enhanced a ritual and used it to gain a corporeal form again. As for why he attacked you, I gathered he made his intentions towards you quite clear…" He trailed off. After a short pause he turned sharply, heading towards the door. He was stopped by a frantic cry.

"Why me?!"

Master froze and turned back to the bed. Never had Jenna seen her Master this serious. "You know why, Apprentice." Jenna gulped and looked down. _Nononono..I don´t know. I don´t want to. I don´tdon´t_´ She ruthlessly buried the mental voice that yelled at her that she did in fact know. That she had suspected this for a while, ever since the first painflash in her scar.

He stalked towards the bed, trying to establish eyecontact to get his point across. His voice grew louder with each sentence. "You try to hide from the truth, but that won´t work anymore. The war has begun and you need to understand your position, Apprentice. You _know_ why you have a connection to the Dark Lord. You _know_ why you are magically stronger than your sibling. You _know_ why you are the one with dreams about green light and cruel laughter. _You. Know. Why_." Master had reached the bed now and grabbed Jenna´s chin in a firm grip, forcing her to meet his eyes. "You know. And I fear, so does He."

His eyes softening at her terrified expression, Master released his bruising grip. "Sleep, Apprentice. Heal. I won´t let him get you."

Eyes still wide with fear, Jenna sank back in the pillows. Her eyes followed the dark figure of her Master as he swept out of the room. He wouldn´t let her hide. Not any more. Jenna started shaking as her sobs could no longer be surpressed. She didn´t even react to the gentle caresses of her boyfriends, trying to comfort her. ´_Why couldn´t Galen really have been the One-Who-Lived?_´

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Jenna pulled the warm robe closer to her body. It was colder than she had expected. But maybe she just hadn´t noticed it the other times she walked through Snape Manor, as she had always worn her warm boots. Now however, she was barefoot on the icy stone floor.

She shivered and walked on quickly. She had woken up not ten minutes earlier, to an empty room. Only Izzy had remained, purring in his sleep. Of course her shifting had woken the animal and within seconds he was squeaking and skipping over her arm.

Jenna smiled gently and lifted her hand to scratch the flufball on her shoulder. Naturally he had demanded to be taken along when she had grabbed a robe and set off in search of the other occupants of Snape Manor. In first instance, Jenna had thought to call one of the House-elves, but to her horror she found she could not recall their names, even though she had known them and their names for years. She sighed. Wandering the hallways in hope of finding something familiar wasn´t her idea of a good time.

"What are you doing out of bed?" A stern voice reprimanded her.

Jenna swung with a guiltly face. It wasn´t hard to recognise Master´s ´_See. No red eyes noredeyes!_´ disapproving voice. "Ehm, I was trying to find you, Master."

"Well, why didn´t you call for a House-elf?" The Potions Professor tapped his foot impatiently.

Jenna cringed, unwilling to reveal how little sense her mind made right now. She was saved from having to answer by Fred sliding behind her and sweeping her into his arms.

"You shouldn´t walk around barefoot, little kitten. Let´s get you to bed."

"Can´t I stay with you? Just for a little while." Jenna whispered. She didn´t care she sounded childish, she was too comfortable, cradled against Fred´s chest.

Fred smiled gently, but looked at the darkhaired man for permission. After receiving a curt nod, Fred turned around, heading towards the office where George was still researching for a cure for his little kitten. Fred easily carried her into the West Wing and up the stairs, Master following him silently.

Jenna closed her eyes contently, feeling safe in the embrace. She didn´t open her eyes until a throat was cleared. Jenna peeked through her lashes to see who wanted her attention. George grinned at her and kissed her chastely on the lips. "Good evening, love. I´m glad you´re feeling better." He smiled, before trailing off uncertainly. "You are feeling better, aren´t you?"

Jenna giggled. This was what she needed. "Yeah, thanks George."

Her stomach growled and Jenna blushed deeply.

"Some food first then." Fred laughed. He waggled his eyebrows playfully. "And after that to bed maybe?" He gently deposited her on the couch and grinned again. "Though I think this couch will work just as well."

Master spoke up, sarcasm colouring his tone. "Yes I do believe she needs her rest, though I don´t think your involvement in her bed is quite necessary." He looked at the redhead meaningfully, ignoring the boy´s mock-insulted face. With a unnoticeable glint of amusement in his eyes, he went on in the same tone of voice. "Grobbel!"

Fred looked up in surprise when his Professor called out the last word.

Catching his brother´s gaze, George shrugged. He didn´t know either why the Professor was suddenly using such a strange insult. A loud crack clued him in on their mistake.

The House-elf popped into the room with flourish. "Yes Lord Snape, sir? What cans Grobbel does for yous Lord Snape, sir?"

Jenna watched how Master´s amusement in confusing the Weasley boys, melted away in annoyance. She had never forgotten how she had first met Master and how he had told her to keep his status as a Lord secret. Grobbel should have known better than to adress him that way in front of others. Even if they were friends.

"Imbecillic House-elf. Get the girl a light meal." Master snapped.

Grobbel, having realised his mistake, squeaked a quick "Yes Master" and popped away.

George spoke up in awe. "Lord Snape? That´s something I didn´t see coming. Sir, why haven´t you told the Wizarding World? You would have people at your beck and call. You could probably take over the Ministry as the last of the Ancient Lines. Maybe you could even take control of Hogw.."

Master glowered at the boy and George paled drastically. After spending so much time in friendly setting with the man, he had forgotten just how dangerous the Potions Master was. "No, Mr Weasley, I do not desire to have the Wizarding World know my status. It would make me an even bigger target than before. And you will not inform them will you, Misters Weasley?" He fingered his wand briefly in an unmistakeable threat.

George cast his eyes down and said in a serious voice, rarely heard from either Weasley twin. "I apologise, sir. It is none of my business. I will swear an oath to keep your secret, if you want."

Fred nodded his agreement frantically. He never wanted to be on the receiving end of that glower again.

After a short nod from their Professor, Fred and George prepared for their oaths. They both clasped their hands together, with their wands held firmly between their fingers. In tandem, like everything else they did, the boys made their vow to Magic. "I swear to keep secret, the knowledge that Severus Snape is of an Ancient line. I will uphold this oath until I am released by Severus Snape."

When the two voices had died out, a brief flash of light sealed the first part of the oath. The redheads turned identical expectant faces to the man they had just sworn an oath for. He had to accept their oath to finish the ritual.

Master nodded and said curtly. "I accept this oath of silence."

And that was all there was to it. Fred and George unclasped their hands and looked at their Professor uncertainly. He merely raised a sarcastic eyebrow and smirked. The message came through clearly. Master did not hold it against them anymore.

Jenna sighed in relief. Master could become very dangerous if he felt vulnerable, and to outing of such a secret would surely make him feel that way. Silently she thanked Mother Magic for giving her boyfriends enough sense to divert this apocolypse.

It was this comfortable silence that Grobbel popped back into with a plate of food. The small creature looked at his smirking Master at disappeared as fast as he could.

Jenna pulled her redheads with her on the couch and asked quietly the question that had been pressing on her mind since she had woken up. "So, did you find anything to.." she winced as she said it, "..repair my mind?"

Master sighed. "I have looked through all my books, but there has been no mention of anything like what happened to you. I can only suggest we restart Occlumency and reinforce your mental walls with extra strength."

Jenna shook her head in distress. "It´s not enough. H-he got through my shields by bashing against them. I´m not strong enough to make walls that will hold up forever."

With a thoughtful frown on his face, Fred said. "Maybe Bill or Charlie know anything to help us."

"I don´t think they know much about Mind Arts, bro. We need a specialist in Mind Magic." George piped in.

The words ´_specialist_´ and ´_Mind Magic_´ pulled at something in Jenna´s mind, but it was hard to place. She raised imploring eyes at her Master.

Master noticed immediately and sent a burst of Legilimens at her. He guided her around, helping her find the memories she was looking for. Together they returned to the normal world with matching understanding in their eyes.

Fred and George looked at them curiously, when Jenna and her Master entoned at the same time the solution to the problem.

"The Veela"

END CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

AN. You probably noticed that this chapter was a bit confusing, with the thoughts of Jenna sometimes popping up in sentences. (Like that bit about the red eyes from Master). I tried to show that, especially in the beginning of the chapter, Jenna is very confused and she can´t make sense of her thoughts. In short, Voldemort made her forget. The light (yes, you will find out what it was) returned the memories, but not in the way they were before. Instead of properly sorted like they were before, the memories were just dumped back in one big pile and Jenna´s having trouble recalling things because of that.

It was quite a challenge to write Jenna like this, but I hope you like it. Hopefully my next chapter will not take so long, but I can´t guarantee it will be soon. I do have a very busy life.

See ya!


	25. Chapter 24

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except for my character Jenaya Potter 

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

_thoughts´_

"talking English"

°°Vampire language, also called Vampiric Mot°°

House-elf language, also called Gaëla

# Language of the Werewolves, also called Grawl #

/Language of the Goblins, also called Gobbledegook/

§ Centaur language, also called Starwan §

**Written language**

_LAST CHAPTER _

_The words ´specialist´ and ´Mind Magic´ pulled at something in Jenna´s mind, but it was hard to place. She raised imploring eyes at her Master. _

_Master noticed immediately and sent a burst of Legilimens at her. He guided her around, helping her find the memories she was looking for. Together they returned to the normal world with matching understanding in their eyes. _

_Fred and George looked at them curiously, when Jenna and her Master entoned at the same time the solution to the problem. _

_"The Veela"_

Fred watched with a bit of annoyance as his girlfriend paced in front of the window, throwing a hopeful glance at the sky every now and then. Ever since she had sent the letter to her Veela friends, she had anxiously been waiting for a reply. Now, two days later, her patience was all but lost. 

He cleared his throat and asked a question in hope of making Jenna settle down for a second. If he could get her to sit down, he could give his stomach a chance to settle down. All that pacing was making him nauseaus. Fred grinned despite himself. Only Jenna could make him seasick on land.

"So, how come the Veela know about Mind Magic?"

For a second Jenna stared at him incredulously, before her expression turned sad again. "I don´t remember.. " She stuttered in shame, before pulling herself together again and continuing in a stronger voice. "I don´t remember everything, but I do know the general reason."

George looked up, interested in the coming explanation.

Jenna went on with a slight frown on her face as she tried to recall the information. "Veela are very sensual creatures. Their whole life and existence is built on attraction and seduction. All full-blooded Veela have a natural sexual grace, but also an explosive temper. It is very dangerous to let either of those loose, so Veela have developed a high level of Mind Magic. That way they can keep control of their emotions and such. It is vital for them."

George frowned. "Didn´t they ever teach you?"

"Uh, well it doesn´t really work that way." Jenna sighed. "I am a part of their world, but I can´t take on any characteristics of the Veela, nor learn any of their magic. I´m just not built like them. And I already had shields around my mind. Master taught me."

Fred nodded. That did make sense. His thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of a silver raven. His mind immediately recognised the animal as the one of the Veela mark on Jenna´s stomach.

Jenna squeeled, echoed by Izzy who also let out a delighted squeel at the happyness of his Mistress.

She tore the letter open and let her eyes fly over the paper. When she was finished, she gave a sigh of relief and ran towards the door leading to the Potions Lab. She knocked once and entered. "They are sending their specialist tomorrow."

Master nodded in acknowledgement, but spent no time further with small-talk. His potions needed his focus.

Familiar with her Master´s short answers when he was brewing, Jenna walked back to her boys and plopped between them on the couch tiredly. The frantic anticipation had left her now that she knew help was on the way. Laying her head on George´s shoulder, Jenna yawned. "So, did anything interesting happen at the Burrow while I was away?"

"Not really. Mom has been antsy ever since you left. She keeps looking at the goblet you gave her. I think she feels guiltly for letting the Potters take you with them." George mused.

Fred nodded. "Yeah, I heard her talking to Dad. They both think something´s wrong in your family but they don´t think it is their place to intervene." He smiled bitterly. "The fact that Dumbledore backs the Potters doesn´t work in our favor either."

George perked up. "At least they like you enough to worry about you. Overall I think it went alright for a first visit." He cast a sardonic glance at Fred. "At least better than how Fred acted with the Centaurs."

Blushing a bit, Fred defended himself. "Well how was I to know the Centaurs would consider that an insult?"

Happy at the lighter turn the conversation had taken, Jenna piped in sarcastically. "You said you had never seen such well cleaned hooves on a normal horse. How were they supposed to take it?"

Fred winced and tried tentively. "As a compliment?"

Unable to keep his laughter in, George cut off his brother´s pathetic defense. "Ah well, luckily you managed to placate them with your compliments about their tails."

"Yes, I am rather charming, aren´t I?" Fred boasted smugly. He didn´t duck in time to avoid the pillow Jenna wacked at his head.

After a second of surprise, Fred let loose a savage battle cry and grabbed a pillow to launch a counter attack.

All thoughts of the coming trial with the Veela were lost in a flurry of flying feathers and pillows. Severus watched from the doorway with a small amount of relief as his Apprentice laid off her burdens and played as a child for one afternoon.

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The arrival was sudden. A low rumbling, followed by a shimmer and Dame Adeia Le Feu strode into the room. None of the three males had ever been exposed to a fullblooded Veela before, as their society was notoriously secluded. Therefore it wasn´t a big surprise to Jenna, that it took them more than a minute to recover from the shock of seeing this beautiful creature before them.

Jenna took the time to greet the guest to the best of her manners; A deep curtesy and a respectful "Bonjour Dame le Feu." The Veela nodded coolly, though the small raising of her eyebrow conveyed her amusement at the men´s reactions.

Adeia was exquisit and she knew it. Like all Veela she had red long hair, a testament of the explosive temperament that was inheret to them. Her face was pale and smooth. And utterly cool. Everything about her, from her carefully groomed eyebrows, to her silver robe, to her highheeled sandals shone with an irrisistable sexual power. Not the usual hot passion. Instead it was a Cold that seeped through the skin and warned the watchers that they would never even stand a chance with her. She was the ultimate ice-queen. And she knew it.

"I believe you were in need of help?" Her voice was enough to lower the temperature in the room to freezingpoint.

Seeing the men were incapable of answering, Jenna spoke. "Oui, ma Dame. A malicious, dark force attacked my thoughts, invading and destroying. I humbly require your help in rebuilding and protecting the sacret cavern of my mind. You Dame le Feu, above all others, know those things that remain mystery to us about the Magic of the Mind. May I ask for your help? " As always around Veela, Jenna found herself talking in a sort of flowery prose. It had annoyed her at first, but she had seen the appreciation the Veela had for her way with words around them. They believed it to be a subconscious way to show her appreciation for their race. Jenna just shrugged and went along with it. It came to her naturally.

Dame le Feu tilted her head. "Child of many worlds…and words." Jenna blushed at the nickname she had gained. "Introduce your companions."

Jenna nodded. "This is my Master, Severus Snape, dark like a night of comfort and hiding. Potions and the mind are his fortes. Alas, his teachings of shields did not protect my mind from the tainted magic, as is the reason for your invitation. These twin fires are my mates, Fred and George Weasley. From the family of Children and Love they have stood beside me like pillars of stone, yet of fire they are. Flexible, unpredictable and dangerous to those they wish to harm."

She ignored the surprised looks of the humans at her introductions and let her mind flow with the soothing coldness of the Dame. "This is Dame Adeia le Feu. She is wind as she is ice. The harshest storm or the gentlest fall of snowflocks. La Dame rules the eastern part of our Veela society and there are none as wise as she in the way of the Mind. Show your appreciation and celebrate her coming."

Finally overcoming his shock, Master bowed curtly. "Good afternoon, Dame le Feu. It is an honour to meet one of your noble race."

Fred and George followed suit, though a bit more clumsily, resulting in another titled eyebrow in amusement. "I am most pleased to meet you. The Child has spoken of you often in her letters."

Suddenly her beautiful face contorted into a frown. She locked her eyes with Jenna and easily looked into the deepest of her mind. "Yes, you need help. You are in grave danger, Child. Let us begin."

Jenna nodded. If the Dame thought it that important to start right away, it was pressing indeed.

Three hours later Jenna was ready to cry. Dame le Feu had initiated a link between their two minds and had looked through practically everything in an effort to find the source of the light. In the Veela´s theory, Jenna had subconsciously drawn on the power of something connected to her to repell the attack. The Dame was determined to find it and use it to make Jenna strong enough mental shields to avert another attack.

Jenna shivered as another mental probe violated her mind. The probes were as icy as the person who sent them and Jenna couldn´t help but hate to be this exposed. Even to the Dame. Even if she was helping. Jenna felt naked and helpless and it Wasn´t. Helping! Three hours had it gone on! The Dame had looked at every relationship she had formed over the years. Every little memory that might give the answer was examined and discarded with no more than a clinical interest. The Ice Queen had absolutely no regard for Jenna´s embarrassment or pain. And all that for nothing.

Aware of the continuous trembling and the increasing loathing of the Child, Adeia le Feu let up the search for a moment. It had been agonizing work and very draining to perform this kind of search, especially with a mind this choatic and a not completely willing patient. Drawing her magic aroung her for strength, Dame le Feu spoke in her usual icy voice. She had worked too hard on her mask to let it be cracked by a bit of exhaustion. "The strongest bonds I can find are those between you and your Master, your mates, a werewolf Alpha and a vampiress. But none of them were responsible for this, I´m certain of it." She cast a thoughtful glance at the youngest Potter. "Do you have any ideas?"

Racking her brain for a solution so the probes would just end, Jenna came up with nothing. "No, I don´t. I just don´t want this anymore." Unable to help herself, Jenna crossed her arms over her body to convey her refusal to budge on this. In the back of her mind a little voice screamed at her to stop acting so unrespectful to the Veela. Dame le Feu was a very influencial person in Veela society and not a very forgiving one at that. But the coldness, fear and plain exhaustion were too much for the teen. She turned her eyes away to avoid another mental probe.

Dame le Feu shot her an icy glare. "Now is not the time for childish acts. This is serious."

"Don´t you think I know that!" Jenna exploded half in tears. "Don´t you think it scares me to death to even think about another attack? I Just Don´t Know What Saved Me. I can´t take another one of this. I just want it to stop." Jenna wailed and launched herself at her boyfriends.

Master sighed and pinched his nose. "I don´t believe this will help, Dame le Feu. It is clearly too much for her."

The Veela Dame shook her head slightly, with confidence. "No. You called for my help and you will receive it. She will stay here until I have found what I am looking for." Dame le Feu looked at the red-eyed snivelling mess and raised an eyebrow in disapproval. Ignoring the protests of the three human males she whispered frigidly. "Child, cease this. You are a Veela. Act like one!"

Even through her sobs, Jenna didn´t miss the order in the words of the Dame. If she refused now, the older Veela would lose all respect for her. She looked up and winced involuntarily at the bludgerlike invasion of the new probe. Dame le Feu wasn´t happy with her. Not at all.

This time the older Veela didn´t let up until she had found her goal. In the end it was Jenna falling unconscious that provided the answer. As soon as Jenna went limp and her last defenses fell, a pale white glow covered her body, like a blanket to keep her warm. Dame le Feu gasped as she was forcefully evicted from the girl´s mind by the feral power she had been looking for. She risked another probe, to identify it and hurried her mental self back into the safety of her own mind before it could launch its attack.

With a small, smug smile the Dame sat back. It was unfortunate that the Child had taken this so hard, but it was worth it. "I have…."

She was cut off as a small fuzzball finally struggled out of one of the redheads´ restraining hands and hopped towards her determinedly. The little animal squeaked angrily and started jumping up and down on the Dame´s sandal-clad foot. It was obvious he was very upset and even ran full force against her ankles in his attempt at attack. Not even Ice-queen Adeia le Feu could contain an amused smile as the animal tried to hurt her, but instead merely managed to tickle her with his fur. "I see the Child has gained a familiar along the way."

Fred nodded curtly. "And he isn´t very happy that you hurt her." The unspoken message that he wasn´t either was very easy to see.

The Dame inclined her head in acknowledgement. "I understand. I have discerned the solution to the problem, however."

Not known for his patience on the best of days, Severus barked out. "Well?"

Dame le Feu shot him a faintly reproving look at his impatience. "The Child did not gain this strength by drawing upon another´s. That is why it took me so long. I was looking for an outside force, not realising I should have looked in her subconscious." Seeing the blank faces she elaborated. "The pale light is that of the moon. I do not understand completely how this being came to be. I can only guess it is a mental manifestation of a werewolf. While she has not been infected the normal way, she has been bitten and marked. Most likely that magic has somehow been twisted, creating this entity. I believe it was dormant until now, but I imagine that an attack as strong as the one she survived called upon these feral instincts in an act of desperation."

George looked pensively down at the hair he was softly stroking. "But why did it leave again? Why did it only react when Jen fell unconscious just now?"

The Veela explained calmly. "She has locked him away in her subconscious. He is only able to act if she is no longer in control. You must teach her to accept him and to invoke him permanently. He must become the guardian to her mind. That way nothing will succeed in entering her mind again without his permission."

With that she stood and gazed down calmly at the unconscious teen. "I can do no more for her. I suggest you let her spend some time with her Werepack." Her nose crinkled almost unnoticeably in disgust. "A free night under the full moon will go a long way for her healing. After the establishment of this defense you can start reorganising her mind." Dame le Feu stroked Jenna´s dark hair softly. "Good luck, Child. I am proud of you." After that she strode out of the room regally, choosing to ignore smug sounding victory-squeaks emitted by the little wuppy who had just driven off a threat to his Mistress.

END CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

A/N. A special thanks to EKI-ember, who suggested some names for eventual Veela ladies a long time ago. I happily used ´Adeia´ which means ´noble´. I do admit I don´t speak french that well, nor that I care that I called the Veela: Noble the Fire.

I´ve read sooo many stories where the Veela have silver hair (and the Malfoys are Veela) that I decided to do something different. Here, Veela all have red hair and explosive tempers. I think that a species as passionate as the Veela with their allure and wings with anger would need very drastic emotion control to keep themselves in check. I imagine that they only show their true passionate self with the ones they are closest to, and show an extremely icy exterior to others. It was also nice for a change to write about a species that didn´t turn out as pleasant as the rest I´ve written about. In short: Veela aren´t nice.


	26. Chapter 25

**Warning change from canon:**You may notice a deviation from canon history in this chapter. Instead of Sirius luring Severus towards Wolf!Remus and James saving him, it is the other way around. James played the prank and Sirius saved Severus. I changed it, because I need Severus and Sirius to be able to interact somewhat civilly in the future and I don´t think it would be possible with their history as in canon.

About Veela: Yes, I do know that Veela ARE lighthaired according to canon, but not in my world. Nhuh! sticks out tongue 

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

´_thoughts´_

"talking English"

°°Vampire language, also called Vampiric Mot°°

House-elf language, also called Gaëla

# Language of the Werewolves, also called Grawl #

/Language of the Goblins, also called Gobbledegook/

§ Centaur language, also called Starwan §

**Written language**

_LAST CHAPTER _

_With that she stood and gazed down calmly at the unconscious teen. "I can do no more for her. I suggest you let her spend some time with her Werepack." Her nose crinkled almost unnoticeably in disgust. "A free night under the full moon will go a long way for her healing. After the establishment of this defense you can start reorganising her mind." Dame le Feu stroked Jenna´s dark hair softly. "Good luck, Child. I am proud of you." After that she strode out of the room regally, choosing to ignore smug sounding victory-squeaks emitted by the little wuppy who had just driven off a threat to his Mistress. _

"I have a wolf-spirit in my mind." 

A nod in answer.

"The bite didn´t just give me instincts, but also a mental wolf."

A roll of the eyes. Another nod of confirmation.

"And I need to learn how to get this phantom wolf to guard my mind."

A sigh of aggravation and a curt, annoyed nod.

"And then I´ll always have a wolf-ghost in my head."

Severus shook his head at the display. Jenna had been trying to accept the information given by the Veela Dame for over twenty minutes. It was becoming quite irritating to listen to the same statement over and over again.

"I have a mental wolf in my brain."

Finally at his breaking point, Master cut in with his biting voice. "Yes, I do believe we explained it to you very clearly. There is no need for you to inform us of this again and again." He waited for a second to see how his Apprentice would respond. No reaction.

Jenna stared at a concerned and squeaking Izzy without really noticing anything around her, lost as she was in thought. She wasn´t sure how to react. First her brains were scrambled by an attack from a newly resurrected Dark Lord, then a Veela Dame picked apart every little memory in her mind and in the end she finds another being living in her mind?

It wasn´t that she didn´t like wolves. On the contrary, she loved being with her pack on the nights of the full moon and play with the animalistic versions of her packmembers. They never tried to hurt her. Even though she wasn´t a wolf on the full moon, she had the bite and smell of pack and she was accepted.

But this…this was something very different. Werewolves didn´t gain a whole new entity inside them. With a normal bite, animalistic urges were transferred into a human and on the full moon they were unleashed in a true wolf-form. Pack-members didn´t have a wolf, they were the wolf as much as they were human. The wolf was a part of their very personality. Loners tried to deny it, and lost their connection to a part of themselves, which often resulted in very violent transformations.

This mental wolf …As of yet he could only come out when she herself wasn´t in control. He was a being with a mind of its own who just happened to be in the same body as her. Oh, yeah, that was also a kicker. ´He´ was his own person. She had a bloody male wolf inside her head. Jenna wasn´t sure how, but she knew it was true. And now she would have to invite him to guard her inner-most thoughts. A boy!

It was strange to feel insulted at a comment she had thought herself, but Jenna could feel a faint sense of indignition at her thinking of the wolf as a boy._ He was a fullgrown WOLF! Not some puny human child_.

Jenna´s eyes shot open in an attempt to ignore the rumbling feelings invading her mind. Her words were precise and slow, almost like an explanation to a small child. Or maybe to a shellshocked teen who was trying to come to terms with what she had only just realized the true consequenses of. "I..have a wolf…in..my…head." 

She didn´t even register Master throwing his hands in the air aggravatedly in a uncharacteristic display of emotion, before he stalked off. He had better things to do than try to get through to his Apprentice.

George nodded sympathetically. "Yes you do love."

Jenna nodded back, now uncomfortably aware of the very faint growls and howls resonating in her head. "I have a wolf… in my head."

Fred looked at his girlfriend and sighed. This was going to take a while.

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Severus nodded at his collegue in thanks and withdrew his head from the floo connection. No matter how thankful he was that the werewolves had played such a large role in taking care of his Apprentice, he couldn´t help but be uncomfortable with them. Ever since the prank in fifth year where Potter had almost killed him by sending him to a transformed werewolf, Severus had been afraid of the creatures. If Black hadn´t stepped in, Severus would have been dogmeat.

He had reluctantly accepted the creatures as a part of his Apprentice´s life, but he would not spend any more time around them than necessary. Luckily Grahm saw no problem in escorting his ´cub´ to the Southern Pack himself. He had even agreed to let the twins come along to meet some more of Jenna´s family. And the best part: Severus could stay in his own house.

The corner of his lips turned in an almost smile of relief.

Turning around briskly, Severus left to inform the teens the news.

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The actual travelling didn´t take long, but the preparations were another story.

"Boots. I need my black boots. Where are my black boots? I need.." She pushed Fred out of the way in her rush to find the shoes from her wardrobe. It was a good thing she had built up an elaborate wardrobe during her multiple stays at Snape Manor. The Potter House-elves weren´t allowed to take anything from Potter Castle without the Master´s explicit permission and Jenna had no desire to go back there herself just to pack some clothes. With her luck, James would catch her within seconds.

Fred exchanged pained looks with his brother. Following the revelation of the wolf spirit, Jenna had just shut down. She didn´t react to anything, instead staring at the wall blankly. Fred had a good idea why she was this affected though. Despite the many dominant figures ruling her life, Jenna was independant. She would submit to the leaders of her races, she would agree to learn, but it was all in an effort to improve her selfreliance. But this…

This wolf was a completely new entity. A stranger, to whom she would have to entrust the very important task of guarding her mind, her inner sanctuary. She would not be able to build up her own Occlumency shields if she accepted the wolf. He would have to take care of the mental defense for the rest of her life. How could she give so much control out of her hands? It was enough to terrify anyone.

When the Potions Master had come back and announced the impending trip to the Southern Pack, it was as if Jenna was suddenly jolted into action. The fear of not being able to trust her own mind had sent her into a desperate frenzy to remember all she could. She had started running around frantically, to make sure she wouldn´t forget to pack anything. It had been two hours since she started and she was showing no signs of slowing down soon.

That was why Fred was so surprised when she suddenly froze and remained in the same position.

Walking towards her warily, unsure what to expect, Fred reached out and stroked his girl´s cheek. "Kitten?"

Jenna turned to face her boyfriend and choked on a sob at the concern and love swirling around in his blue orbs. Another sob was ripped from her and she launched herself at him, needing to feel the security of his arms around her.

"I can´t..I´m going to forget something, Fred."

Fred tightened his arms around her shaking body. "It is okay, kitten. If you forget something, we´ll ask the House-elves to bring it. Shhhh, calm down kitty."

Jenna hiccoughed. "But-but I almost forgot Izzyyyyyyyyyy!" The name of the little animal came out in a wail as she started to sob in earnest.

"Shhhhh, you won´t forget him to bring him. He wouldn´t stand for it! You´ll be okay and we´ll be there all the way, won´t we George?"

George nodded his agreement. He didn´t know what to do to make it better and he hated it. He would do anything to make his princess smile again. In a burst of inspiration he knelt down and picked up the little animal who had tried to keep up with his Mistress´ wild dash through the house. His lips quirked at the indignant squeak which turned into a grateful one when he planted the furrball on Jenna´s shoulder. "See, he´s right here. And so are we."

Jenna nodded. She was being stupid, she knew it. But it was so damn hard to keep balanced right now. Her memories were scrambled, her thoughts weren´t private and she was just plain exhausted. She gave a teary smile and opened her mouth to answer. She wasn´t prepared for the growl that interrupted her.

#Cub.#

Fred and George whirled around, surprised at the sound and wary. Their stiff staunces relaxed as they recognised the man in the doorway. Izzy stayed wary a moment longer, trying to determine if this was an enemy. Finally, with a happy squeak he settled again, satisfied his Mistress was safe in the company of this feral predator.

Automatically Jenna relaxed her stance and bared her teeth, growling out. #Alpha!# She raised her gaze to him slowly, respectfully. #It is good to see you.#

Alpha Grahm looked over his cub and shook his head disapprovingly. #You do not fare well, cub. Yes, it is time to go to the pack. Follow me. We leave in two minutes.#

Jenna started. #But I´m not done and I..#

The slap to her cheek was swift and not unexpected. Alpha´s eyes glowed gold. #Right now I do not want to hear any objections, cub. You can not look after yourself, so I will.#

Slumping Jenna nodded. #Yes, Alpha.# It was in some ways a relief to follow his clear orders. No worrying about her mental problems, just going through the motions of obeing Alpha. Bit by bit the tension from her body bled away.

Fred and George exchanged uneasy glances at the act of violence, but didn´t interfere. Jenna had warned them never to come between an Alpha and his Cub, especially when it concerned punishment. They breathed a silent sigh of relief when the amber-eyed man stalked out of the room. Maybe the trip to the Pack wouldn´t be as relaxing and fun as they had thought it would be. Their musings were interrupted by Jenna´s shaky smile as she hurried out of the room to ready her bags.

George nodded to his brother in shared approval. Maybe the trip wouldn´t be as fun as they had imagined, but it was already helping Jenna. It was worth it.

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´_Only two more nights until the next Moongathering._´ Vivian sighed. She should be happy. She would spend the moongathering with her future mate Tup and her best friend! It had been many months since Jenna´s last visit and Viv had been ecstatic when Alpha told her J would be coming to visit. But something was very wrong with J. She had seen that the moment her friend had portkeyed in.

Instead of the cheerful, energetic girl Viv knew from before, an exhausted figure with an air of confusion and fear had appeared. J had immediately been swept away to the den of the pack shaman. Nobody had been allowed to approach their weakened pack-member. Not even Viv. 

The two wizards who had accompanied J were introduced by Alpha: J´s mates, or future mates really as they hadn´t mated yet. The boys were likeable enough, and had been able to win over the favor of most of the pack despite the less than positive attitude the pack held towards wizards. The twinsboys returned verbal assaults with teasing sarcasm, enjoyed playing with the young ones and never gave even the slightest hint that they felt superior to werewolves. On the contrary! They asked as many questions as they could and seemed very interested in the stronger senses werewolves had. Viv had even heard them whispering about how much easier pulling pranks would be with those senses. That was the moment she decided she _really_ liked them!

Of course there were still some wolves who scorned them, but the boys were miraculously unbothered. "You can´t please everyone." Was their usual answer. 

But despite their cheerful and outgoing manner, Viv could see the worry in their eyes. Not even they were allowed to stay with J during her therapy with the shaman.

Viv persued her lips determinately. ´_Only two more nights. Then she will come out and we can run together under the full moon._´ During the Moongathering J would be cured. There was nothing else to it. Jen would be cured. Shoving her doubts and insecurities away roughly, Viv ran towards Tup and the two wizards. If she was going to organise a nice party for J´s recovery, she would have to hurry. She only had two more nights.

000000000000000000000000000000000 

Jenna sighed as she absently stroked an exitedly squeaking Izzy. The last two days all she had done was talk with the Shaman. And talk. And talk. And talk.

The Shaman wanted her to communicate with the wolf in her mind, as she needed to learn to release control to him. Trust him. But it wasn´t that easy for her. She didn´t like being vulnerable and besides from the Veela assault she hadn´t let anyone in her mind for three years. Not even Master got complete access.

A faint growl alerted her that the wolf was pacing again. How she was sure this mental manifestation was pacing, she didn´t know. But she was sure of it. The wolf was getting impatient. He wanted freedom.

According to the Shaman, the wolf had been created by series of coincidences. It started with her accepting the bite of Alpha but not gaining the actual transformation-process. A loose strand of power had been released into her body, unnoticed by both Alpha and Cub.

Purposeless magic usually wasn´t a cause for concern. It would just return to the earth or air, ready to be used in other magical works. But this strand was obstructed. It couldn´t reach the ground because its way was blocked by the vampire mark, the only other mark on Jenna´s body at the time. Vampire Magic, like a Vampire, was greedy and in abscence of blood, the vampire magic from the mark tried to take in the loose strand of werewolf power.

It didn´t count on the loose power to fight back. Instead of fusing with the vampire mark, it latched on to the werewolf bite and strengthened it with its own magic, powering it up in a desperate attempt to survive. The bite couldn´t take all the power without forcing a transformation and had shoved the extra power off to Jenna´s subconsciousness. There the power had gone dormant. But everytime Jenna did a spell, the excess magic seeped into it, strengthening it. Until it became a whole new entity.

The mental attack from the Dark Lord had forced the wolf to wake up and he wasn´t backing down now.

Jenna sighed. The only positive thing of this whole mess was that the loose strand of werewolf power had stabilised the vampire mark all those years ago. Who knows what kind of side effects she could have ended up with if that mark had drained magic for years before anyone noticed?

#Don´t close yourself off, Cub. I thought you knew by now it does no good to fight the wolf?# The Shaman reminded her despondant patient gently. She saw the problem, but without her patient´s cooperation she would get nowhere.

With an annoyed growl, Jenna turned away and looked out of the window. She didn´t acknowledge the sigh as the Shaman walked away. She just wanted this all to go away. Her eyes went longingly towards the starry sky. Tomorrow was the moongathering. Why couldn´t she just have a nice celebration with Viv, Fred and George? And Viv´s mate…what was his name again? Closing her eyes in frustration, Jenna cursed her scrambled mind.

A distressed squeak alerted her to the fact that she was stroking Izzy too roughly because of her anger. She gave him an apologetic cuddle, elicting a happy wiggle and squeak, and lay back on the bed. Maybe she should get some more sleep. Sleep was nice and maybe tonight she wouldn´t dream about a wolf trampling her thoughts. Maybe.

From the corner of the room Alpha Grahm watched one of his most troublesome Cubs fall asleep, an angelic look on her face. He turned to the young woman next to him. #Do you think it will work?#

The Shaman shrugged uncertainly. #I´ve never seen anything like this before, Alpha. But she won´t solve this on her own. She will keep trying to ignore the wolf. The spell is our best chance. It will force her together with the wolf spirit. She will either accept the wolf during the full moon or…# She trailed off.

#Or she will not accept him. Ever.# Alpha continued decisively. #And that would be very dangerous with the rising darkness of late.#

He gave a small sigh. #We just have to wait, I guess.#

The Shaman nodded, never taking her concerned eyes of the small form in the bed. Waiting. Shefucking_ hated_ waiting.

000000000000000000000000000000000 

Fred watched with interest as the latest preparations for the Moongathering were finished. The exited mood of the pack was infective and he had found himself whistling more than once today, despite the fact that he would be spending tonight in the company of bloodthirsty monsters. And the fact that he hadn´t seen Jenna in four days. She wasn´t allowed to have visitors and nothing he or his brother said could convince Professor, no _Alpha_ Grahm otherwise.

The Werewolf ruler wasn´t all that different from his persona as Hogwarts teacher, but the reaction to his authority was. Where Hogwarts students occasionally disobeyed, or were rude, here the wolves took Grahm´s word as law. He was Alpha and nobody would be as stupid as to disobey an order from Alpha. 

Fred was happy to see the night of the full moon was only an hour away. He would finally get to see Jenna tonight and maybe she would be cured. That friend of hers, Viv, sure seemed to think so. Determined to keep his thoughts positive, Fred finished his protective circle and stepped into it to test it. Neither he nor his twin would survive this night without good protection, so he wouldn´t take any chances.

Half an hour later he was in the circle together with George and a mournful Izzy. It was too dangerous for Izzy to go with Jenna, but the little animal had refused to be left in the room. He wanted to go with his Mistress! In the end Jenna had compromised and had taken the small animal to her boyfriends, so that Izzy would be able to see her the entire night, but wouldn´t be in any danger.

The twins had taken care to spell themselves scentless and carefully cleared away all traces of their magic outside the circle. If it was one thing werewolves were attracted to, it was magic. With these precautions and a very strong shield grounded to the paintcircle on the grass, they sat back to watch one of the most sensational things of their lives.

The clearing before them was filled with people, at least fifty of them. Adults, teenagers, children, all had taken of their clothes, but none seemed bothered by their nudity. Fred had quirked an eyebrow when he had seen them undressing, but Tup explained blandly that it would cost A LOT to replace the garbs every month. And why be embarrased about being naked, when the eventual mating ceremony would be in front of the entire pack anyway?

That had caused the twins to choke in surprise, while a laughing, naked Viv led her future mate away to the others. The boys could just hear her whisper to Tup "I wonder how they will react when they realise they are J´s mates… and that they will need to perform a mating ceremony as well!" They were so shocked, they didn´t see Viv stiffle a laugh in Tup´s shoulder at their expense. It wasn´t often she could rile them up like that!

Fifteen minutes before the moon would rise, Alpha strode into the clearing. He glowed with power, golden eyes daring his packmembers to challenge him for position as Alpha. A few minutes later he nodded content with the other´s submission. #Tonight we celebrate our gift from Luna, the Moon. We are her servants, her wolves. And tonight we show our gratitude!#

The people in the clearing screamed their agreement, turning glinting eyes at each other in anticipation of tonight.

#Tonight we also have our witch-packmember with us. But she is ill. I will tolerate no fights with her tonight. She needs the moon to heal.# Alpha let his voice end in a fierce growl. He was gratified by the understanding howls he received in return.

At his gesture Jenna strode into the clearing, only casting one glance at the captivated boys behind their shield. She knew they hadn´t expected this…nakedness. But it was good for them to be here. This would help them understand her wolf side better.

That moment an eerie silence fell over the clearing, and in union all heads turned in the same direction. The direction where a large silver orb was rising above the trees. A few more seconds the silence lasted before….

GROWLS

SCREAMS

One howl sounded as the largest wolf, a silvery one, called to the moon. Following the example of their Alpha, more wolves began to howl. Howl. HOWL!

Jenna looked around her with a splitting smile on her face, before she let herself be swept away in the feral feelings of her pack. And from deep within her she could feel a howl bubbling up. She threw her head back a howled with her pack. The extasy only lasted for a minute, before a foreign magic forced her mind to retreat.

With a panicked snarl, Jenna fought back. Who had done this? Who had used a spell on her? It didn´t feel dark. It felt more li…SNARL

Jenna couldn´t fight anymore. Her mind was forced together with the mental wolf, strengthened by the full moon. Hyped on her defensive feral emotions, Jenna attacked. The wolf growled back and pounced.

Back and forth the fight went.

Claws.

Nails.

Teeth.

Fangs!

Hands!

Paws!

And then there was nothing more to fight. The being looked around in surprise. Nothing left to fight? But…And then he/she understood. He/She looked at her hands for confirmation.

Paws, not hands. He/She didn´t have an enemy, he/she was the wolf, he/she was the human. But only for a second.

Back in her human mental form, Jenna looked at the wolf crouching before her. She had been him, only for a second. Only because he had let her. It was enough. He had let himself be vulnerable to show he could be trusted to guard her mind. She could let herself be vulnerable for him.

She nodded. Acceptance.

Jenna opened her physical eyes and saw the wolves around her. Pack. A quick glance at the moon told her she only had about one more hour before the night was over. With a delighted howl she threw herself on hands and feet and raced towards the wolf she recognised as Viv.

Time to PLAY!

000000000000000000000000000000000

George watched in fascination as the wolves howled to the moon one last time and then transformed back into their human forms. He closed his eyes and thought back to what he had seen tonight. A beautiful and unrestraintly feral celebration. And Jenna. Wow. For some reason it didn´t matter she was in a human form. She fit in with the others, her howls and growls just as real and deeply felt as those of the wolves. His eyes had followed her in awe.

But the night hadn´t been just a visual spectacle, it had been filled with worry as well. Only minutes after the start of the moongathering, Jenna had collapsed. It had taken all his restraint to keep from running out of the circle, like Izzy was trying to do. Luckily common sense won in the end, and he had grabbed the animal which was trying to walk through the impenetrable shield. Together with his brother, George had settled for staring at his unconscious girlfriend in worry. They watched the large silver wolf gently dragging her out of the mass, growling at another wolf. The other wolf snarled back and ran to stand protectively over the weakened cub. The guard wolf had made sure none of the fighting wolves would harm her unconscious form.

Aware nothing there was nothing they could do at the moment, George had turned his attention back to the clearing. The field was practically alive with the many wolves darting around, growling at each other playfully and mock-fighting. On the left some of the small cubs were trying to establish dominance over each other, a little more to the right a group of wolves had spotted a prey and were chasing it with joyous howl. Older wolves were merely snuggling together, a few couples were…coupling. And in the middle of it all prowled a silver wolf, sometimes playing along with the others, sometimes fighting his packmembers to make them acknowledge his dominition, sometimes licking his cubs affectionately.

It was magnificent. Even Izzy became silent.

Hours later, the night had caught up with him. He had been awake for almost 24 hours and he was desperately in need of some sleep. Fred had already slipped into sleep and George would have followed him, if not for a small commotion in the back of the field. George was jolted into wakefullness when he remembered that was where Jenna had been dragged to.

He had squinted his eyes fiercely, trying to make out what was happening. And then relief flooded his system. His eyes had lit up at the happy howl that emerged from a half crouched figure. Jenna was awake, and she was finally able to enjoy the full moon like she should. With a grin, George had poked his brother awake and together they had watched the nimble human wolf play with her pack until the moon disappeared behind the horizon.

George smiled tiredly and let the protective shield collapse around him. Half a minute later he had an armful of already sleeping girl. Tonight had been a great succes.

As usual the pack woke up late on the morning after the full moon. Jenna snuggled deeper into the warm arms around her and sighed contently, enjoying the chance to sleep in. Not even Master demanded she do her morning-training on the morning after the full moon. Jenna frowned. With all the chaos after New Year she hadn´t done her usual regime in….what date was it anyway?

Mentally she started the process of counting back the days spent in Snape Manor and here in the company of the Shaman. To her surprise it wasn´t difficult at all. It wasn´t hard to recall memories, it wasn´t hard to make links between different pieces of information. It wasn´t hard to remember! Well, except for what happened last night, but she always had problems remembering moongatherings due to the intense emotion they evoked.

With anticipation, Jenna retreated into her mind. She had a vague memory of howling at the moon and then foreign magic, healing magic…the Shaman! And then forced together with a wolf and fighting and accepting. Did that mean….

She let out a triumphant yell when she regarded her mental landscape. A sky filled with rainclouds, a shadowy land with lots of places to hide and even a few sunlit fields. Her memories were organised like they were before, sorted in air, water, earth, vegetation and animals. Master had smirked when he had seen the way she filed her thoughts, explaining to her that most people used filingcabinets or bookcases. But Jenna didn´t like that. She wanted space, so she created space for her memories. And lots of freedom.

A growl pulled her from her musings and Jenna followed the sound to the edge of her mental world. This had changed. No longer did her large, stone, Occlumency walls protect her mind. Now it was a swirling, pale yellow energy. Jenna smiled softly and reached out a hand. The energy let out a howl and for a second flowed into a form resembling a wolf, before becoming an indecernable flow again.

With a sigh of contentment, Jenna let herself wake up in the real world again. Her mind was safe as it could be. Her eyes opened to stare into two bright green eyes with amber flecks. Viv.

"Wake up, J. We organised a party for your recovery." Viv hestitated briefly, something the confident girl didn´t do often. "You are recovered, aren´t you?"

Jenna glanced around and saw Fred, George, Alpha and the Shaman waiting intently for her answer. She smiled brightly, trying to hide her relief at no longer having to struggle with her own mind. "´Course I am, Viv. As if I´d miss a party in my honour!"

Viv grinned back. She leaned in closely and whispered with a mischievous glint in her eye. "Come on, let´s go pick an outfit. You made quite an ehh ´impression´ on your mates by sleeping in their arms naked." Viv glanced meaningfully at the bulge in both twins´ pants. "Surely we can find you a nice outfit that will…´impress´ them even more. Oh, and remember that dance I taught you? I think it´s time we reminded our mates how lucky they are to have us, don´t you?"

Jenna choked. Only Viv would come up with things like that, the werewolf so loved to tease. And as always Viv´s mood was infectuous. Sharing a gleeful glance with Viv, Jenna jumped up to pick out an outfit for the party. Viv immediately linked arms and marched her out the door. Before leaving, Viv cast a cheeky glance back at Tup and wiggled her naked bum. "See you at the party, lover."

With that the two girls ran out of the room, laughing outrageously.

Alpha barked a short laugh at the dumbfounded looks on the faces of the three boys. #It looks like your spell worked, Shaman. She is back alright.#

The Shaman smiled back. Yes, she had missed the antics of those two rascals.

Hours later, the five youths crashed down on the couches in the livingroom. They had danced, jumped and partied until all the nervous energy that had been building these last days was gone. Jenna smiled as her friend snuggled into her mate´s arms. "You chose well, Viv."

Tup grinned smugly, well aware it was him they were talking about. Viv merely smiled back. "So did you, J."

Fred preened outrageously. "She did, didn´t she?" And that started a light banter that was only halted by the floo-connection flaring green. Five pairs of eyes watched a dark-haired head appear in the fire. All humor was swept from their systems at the serious look on the man´s face.

"Apprentice, you need to come to Hogwarts."

END CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

AN Apologies for the long wait. I have written several versions of the moongathering and every time I was dissatisfied, so I deleted it again and started over until I got to this version. It just took a while (but at least it is a long chappie, right?) And this way you can get to know Viv (and Tup) a bit better. Don´t know if they will play a big role in the rest of the story, but I thought Jenna should see her best girl friend again.

I hope all questions about the wolf spirit have been answered to your satisfaction. Jenna has regained a mental balance and will now be ready for the confrontations at Hogwarts. I wrote her behaviour at the beginning of the chapter as deliberately erratic to show the strain of not being able to rely on her own mind. I wrote the moongathering in short words, without much description from the point of view of Jenna and the wolves, because I imagine that it would feel that way for the wolves: All instinct and no words.

Hope you liked it!


	27. Chapter 26

Disclaimer: I don't own anything

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX

_'thoughts' _

"talking English"

°°Vampire language, also called Vampiric Mot°°

House-elf language, also called Gaëla

# Language of the Werewolves, also called Grawl #

//Language of the Goblins, also called Gobbledegook//

§ Centaur language, also called Starwan §

**Written language **

_LAST CHAPTER _

_Hours later, the five youths crashed down on the couches in the livingroom. They had danced, jumped and partied until all the nervous energy that had been building these last days was gone. Jenna smiled as her friend snuggled into her mate's arms. "You chose well, Viv." _

_Tup grinned smugly, well aware it was him they were talking about. Viv merely smiled back. "So did you, J." _

_Fred preened outrageously. "She did, didn't she?" And that started a light banter that was only halted by the floo-connection flaring green. Five pairs of eyes watched a dark-haired head appear in the fire. All humor was swept from their systems at the serious look on the man's face. _

_"Apprentice, you need to come to Hogwarts."_

Jenna stumbled out of the fireplace of Snape Manor. Her mind was whirling with the information she had just received. She had been stupid. Of course her absence wouldn't have gone unnoticed.

She should have known! She should have remembered the last time the wizarding public saw her she was screaming her lungs out, before disappearing suddenly. Of COURSE there would be an investigation!

While the Potters probably didn't care very much, they would be forced to act like worried parents to placate the public. And with the number of reporters present at the party, the news of her disappearance would have been public knowledge within hours. A kidnapping of one of society's elite children, right under the noses of the Minister of Magic, Dumbledore and the Boy Who Lived! It was enough to fuel the tabloids for months.

And that didn't even include the disappearance of the twins. While not as socially important as the Potters, the Weasleys were a wellknown family and for the most part well liked. There weren't many people who hadn't met the charming twin boys or had heard of them in a positive light.

The public wanted them found and they wanted it NOW! Caving under the heavy pressure, Minister Fudge had delegated Auror team after Auror team to find the missing teens.

Master's words echoed in her head: "Think Apprentice! What will happen if they find you three here? In a werewolf pack?"

Jenna shivered at the thought. The wolves would have been blamed and killed without even a trial. And the Aurors were coming close, Master had said. He had managed to hold them off for a few more days by spreading a false rumour, but it was only a matter of time before the Aurors would succeed in their search. At that realization, all three Hogwart's students had quickly packed and, after a hurried farewell, had flooed back to Snape Manor.

Jenna glanced at her Master's eyes as she straightened up, absently brushing the floo powder from her robe. She respectfully inclined her head, like she used to do before the attack on her mind. Something close resembling relief flashed through those onyx eyes at her gesture, and Master nodded back in acceptance. Then his eyes blanked again and bore into hers. After a few seconds he drew back, apparently satisfied with her mental defenses. The moment he drew back, Jenna felt the faint growling in her mind stop. Unable to resist, she sent a small mental pat to her guardian wolf, and received an indignant huff in return.

She made an impressive effort to keep her chuckles in at the rebuffal.

Three hours later the four human occupants of Snape Manor sat around the salon table, their faces drawn and tired.

"So, we are agreed." Despite it being a question, Master made it sound like a statement. None of the three teenagers made a move to contradict him though. It was by far the best plan. The return of Voldemort would have to be told to Dumbledore who, despite his favouritism towards the Potters, was still the best leader for the Light. And it was unlikely that any of the adults would simply believe three teenagers. No, it was time to reveal one of Jenna's closely guarded secrets.

"Yes Master. We are agreed."

"Good. Follow me then." He stalked out of the room without another word.

Fifteen minutes later the three students who had thrown the entire Wizarding World into chaos walked into the Great Hall with subdued airs. And herding them inside with an arctic glare was none other than the greasy Potions Bat of the Dungeons.

000

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN, GIRL? DON'T YOU HAVE ANY RESPECT FOR YOUR SUPERIORS? DON'T THINK FOR ONE MINUT.."

As expected, the second the three teenagers walked into the Great Hall, James Potter started screaming. He was the only one who spoke. All others were stunned into silence, and watched with shocked eyes as the three students they were plotting to find, made their way towards the Head Table. Only the most oblivious of the adults managed to miss the terrifying presence of Severus Snape, though.

Jenna fought to keep her fear off her face. She didn't like the blatant stares. Oh she wasn't shy about being in the public's eye over a prank or something, but this was very different. These weren't her schoolmates, but the most powerful adults of wizarding Britain. The fact that a majority of the Auror forces, the entire Order of the Phoenix, the complete Hogwarts Staff, and at least half of the Department Heads were all gathered simply to find three teenagers, almost forced a half hysterical giggle out of her.

All eyes followed the forms of the three kids. Then a new sound pierced James Potter' s rant. Like a siren, Mrs Weasley's wail woke the others from their trance. "MY BABIES. OH FRED, GEORGE, DON'T DO THIS TO ME AGAIN. DON'T YOU DARE." She half stumbled to her offspring and caught the two redheads in a crushing hug, plastering them with kisses and tears. "Oh my twins. My little babies. DON'T YOU DARE DO THIS EVER AGAIN. I missed you so much. I was so worried.."

Her half screams, half sobs were drowned by the happy, confused, and angry voices now shouting their opinion on the new twist in the kidnap story.

"Silence!"

The command was not especially loud, but with his magical power backing it, Dumbledore's voice demanded obedience. Immediate obedience.

Chastened as they realized their childlike behaviour, the wizards and witches in the Great Hall turned their eyes to the most powerful among them. Dumbledore surveyed the mass of silent men and women. "The Heads of the four Houses, any senior Aurors, Madame Bones, the Weasleys and the Potters will accompany me to my room." Again, his voice did not leave room for discussion.

Fred exchanged a worried glance with his brother. He hoped everything would work out.

000

The tension in the office was thick.

Dumbledore looked up from where he had been studying his new package of lemon drops. "So if I understand correctly, on the night of the New Year an attack was launched on young miss Potter which had the strange side effect of transporting her to an unknown location. Since Misters Weasley were in physical contact with her, they went along. Once there, it took several days for you to gather your strength and contact Professor Snape, who then came to collect you."

Jenna nodded. "Yes, sir. That's about it."

James opened his mouth to no doubt throw in a scatching remark, but a stern glare of the Headmaster quelled any sound.

He went on in his usual cheery voice, though the twinkle in his eyes was dimmed. "A very interesting story." His eyes turned to his favorite collegue. "What do you have to say about this Severus? How were you able to find these children when all our best efforts have gone in vain?" The tone wasn't accusing, but Jenna still saw Master bristle slightly.

"I have my ways Albus."

Jenna almost grinned. Master's voice was bland and slightly superior. She knew the truth of her Apprenticeship would come out today, and she knew Master would milk this for all it was worth. It wasn't often he could get one over the omniscient Albus Dumbledore.

Dumbledore caught the slightly smug tone as well. The twinkle brightened momentarily as the old wizard gave in to his curiosity. "Have you now, Severus?"

The two stared at each other in a battle of wills, neither willing to break first. In the end it was Minerva McGonagall who broke the intricate powergame. She glared disapprovingly. "Severus, you'd do well to answer the Headmaster's question!"

Both wizards showed signs of annoyance at the interruption, though Jenna doubted many would notice the slight tightening of the Headmaster's lips. Master was much more obvious in his disgruntlement. He glared back at her. "Yes Minerva, thank you for pointing that out for me."

Again, Jenna noticed a slight twitch in the Headmaster's lips. This time upwards.

"Now now Severus, we are merely curious how you managed this task." The Headmaster was twinkling full force now. "Surely you will not leave us in uncertainty?"

Master narrowed his eyes. "Surely I will not." His tone showed how much he would like that. It was quiet for a few moments as everyone leaned forward to see what the Headmaster would answer to that. The grey wizard merely smiled in delight at the challenge.

Jenna was sure Master would have rolled his eyes, had he not been a dignified pureblood Lord.

"I truly see no reason…"

"Indulge me, Severus." The Headmaster interrupted with a smile.

Master went on as if he had not heard the comment. "..to diverge sensitive information to this bunch of intellectually underdeveloped..." His insult was met with the usual angry reactions. Much to Jenna's amusement, James actually stood and was about to yell back when he noticed that no-one else had done the same. The others stared at him, and the eldest Potter flushed red as the implications of his actions became clear. By standing up he had made himself the main target of the insult, and his childish reaction only enforced that opinion.

Jenna didn't fail to notice Master's black eyes glinstering. He had planned for this to happen.

Blightly Master went on, ignoring his thoroughly embarrassed rival. "…Yet I suppose it is necessary." His eyes turned cold, speaking solely to the Headmaster, who sat up as he noticed the grave air that suddenly surrounded his young friend. "I have uncovered distressing information. The mental attack of which the children spoke, was of a Dark kind. As you know, once every few years there is an alignment of stars which allows for the increase or reduction of power in a magical ritual. Last New Year was such a window." His eyes traveled over the still unconcerned faces of the people around him. Idiots!

"I have found evidence that this window was used to resurrect the spirit of the Dark Lord."

As expected, the room exploded into sounds. The only ones quiet were the three students, the Potions Professor and the Headmaster.

Dumbledore gazed deeply into his collegue's eyes. While he did not perform Legilimency, he was an expert in reading the sour Potions Master. A numb shock spread through his mind as he accepted his findings. Severus was not lying. Tom was back.

He sat leaned back into his comfortable chair with a deep sigh. His eyes traveled over the disbelieving, or panicking wizards and witches. Finally they fell on the smallest form in the room. "And why did he attack young miss Potter, Severus? How did he manage to send such a powerful attack that it took her and young misters Weasley out of commission for several days?"

The room hushed at the question, and all eyes turned to the sneering man. "I do not know for certain, but I believe miss Potter's sensitivity for magic left her open to attack. It will not happen again, since the window of opportunity has passed. Her own magic retaliated to the attack, and might have tried to send her to a safe place to recuperate. Misters Weasley merely went along for the ride."

The ageing Headmaster nodded thoughtfully, his eyes still locked with his friend's. Severus was lying. There was no possible way the young Potter could have been attacked so severely when he himself had not sensed one whiff of magic until it was too late. No, the only way the girl could have been attacked was if she already had a mental connection with Tom. His mind shied away from the implications of miss Potter being attacked instead of young Galen. Something was very wrong, but he was not yet ready to accept it. So Dumbledore pretended to agree with the explanation. His eyes however told another story. He relaxed minutely at Severus' small nod of agreement. The real explanation would come when the others were away. Dumbledore hoped it would not be what he was beginning to suspect.

For a few seconds, Dumbledore felt the heavy mantle of responsibility smother him. After years of happiness he would now have to go back to his ways as a War General, keeping different secrets from all his friends, designing plans and traps within traps. For a few seconds he felt old.

Then he pulled himself together. This time Severus was here to help him. This time Severus was old and experienced enough to share the majority of the secrets. His twinkle returned as he surveyed his friend. He had a feeling Severus had been very good at keeping secrets these last few years. It would be interesting to uncover them!

"And how did you locate them, my dear boy?"

A rueful shake of the head told Dumbledore that Severus had hoped he would have forgotten that.

The Potions Master opened his mouth to speak, only to be cut off by a heartwrenching wail.

000

Molly Weasley didn't know what to feel anymore. She had been so terrified when two of her babies had disappeared. She had worn herself down with the horrible thoughts of her twins lying somewhere, hurt or, Merlin forbid, dead. And now they were back! She hadn't let go of their hands since she had grabbed them in the Great Hall. She didn't think she would ever let them go again.

All she wanted was her family safe and happy.

But now Professor Snape had announced that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was back! And her babies' disappearance was because of an attack on Jenna. Not directly, but still…

Her first reaction was to forbid all of her children from ever seeing Jenna again. She was dangerous. The Potter's were dangerous. The newly resurrected madman would surely go after anyone affiliated with the family of the Boy-Who-Lived. Ron and Ginny would have to break of their burgeoning friendship with Galen Potter as well.

But as Molly gazed at her twin boys, she knew it would not work. Fred and George would not give up their love. Ron and Ginny would not give up their friend.

Her eyes filled as she imagined the fights that would occur if she suggested it. No, she couldn't do it. If there was truly a war brewing, the family would have to be united. She smiled a wobbly smile. After all, the Weasley's had always been staunch allies to Albus Dumbledore. They would be targets one way or another.

United as a family was their best shot at survival.

Unconsciously her eyes sought out the Potters. She shivered. The unbridled anger in James' eyes and the complete apathy in Lily's scared her. She didn't know why the Potters weren't relieved or happy at their daughter's safe return. '_No_,' Molly chided herself. '_That isn't true. You do know. You don't want to, but you do know._ '

As she gazed at the hard brown eyes and the bored green gaze of two of society's best, Molly faced facts. She had noticed the unfair treatment of the Potter parents. She had seen the money and attention Galen received easily, she had seen the scorn that was thrown Jenna's way. For too long she had let herself be swayed by the public opinion, disregarding the wise words of Bill and Charlie, and the passionate defense of the twins.

Molly choked on a sob. Not any more! She was through trying to disregard all negative sides of her life. She, Molly Ann Weasley, had done the youngest Potter wrong by neglecting to follow up on her suspicions of an unhappy homelife.

There, she had admitted it to herself.

Taking a deep breath, Molly tried to comfort herself with the resolve to make up. She would become a mother-figure for Jenna. She was good at being a mother. She had seven children after all, and all had turned out well. She would make up for her negligence. Molly relaxed. She would never have let her child face life alone like that. She had always guided her children and had talked about their problems.

Hadn't she?

An uneasy feeling invaded her as she thought back to the past few years.

She might have spent too little time on raising Ron's self-worth. His fits of jealousy had multiplied exponentially in the last few years. Had Molly done too little in explaining to Ron that he was beautiful just as he was?

The uneasy feeling grew.

Ginny. Ginny was such a wonderful child. She had so many friends, and did quite well in school. But, Molly thought with a small frown, when was the last time Ginny had come to her for advice? And since when was Ginny as cruel as to something like making Jenna deliberately have an accident with the Floo? Yes, Molly remembered the incident well, but she hadn't though much about it then, except for the normal anger at her child disobeying. Now, she wondered what else she had missed. When was the last time she saw Ginny laughing with her brothers? When was the last time Ginny had looked at her family with anything but contempt in her eyes? Why hadn't Molly done anything about it?

The uneasy feeling was pressing into her as Molly forced herself to see the truth about her interaction with her children. Percy. Why oh why hadn't she encouraged bookish little Percy to make more friends? She had been so proud of his intelligence she had put him on a pedestal, a model for the other children. Molly gasped in realization. She was the reason of the bad relationship between Percy and his brothers and sister. _She_ had driven that first wedge in! And now Percy had practically no social skills. Her fault!

Oh Charlie, he had been so happy when he came to tell her about that job in Romania. So happy with his dragons. And she had fought him. He didn't speak to her for two months after that. He still went to Romania. Molly pressed her lips together tightly to keep in the wails building in her. She had been unable to let her sweet baby go, and she had hurt him! And she had done the same to Bill, not wanting him to go to Egypt. But Bill didn't like yelling, and had left the house quietly. He had still gone to Egypt.

And George and Fred. Molly tightened her hold on their hands. She hadn't protected them. She had let them face danger alone! What kind of lousy mother was she? She couldn't even tell her own children apart. Sure, they were twins, but shouldn't she be able to see the difference easily? She was their mother! Had she done anything right? Was she even fit to be a mother? Oh her poor babies! Her poor, poor babies!

Molly was unaware of her husband and two sons trying to rouse her from her thoughts. She didn't notice her thoughts had spiraled out of control. She didn't notice as the wail she had tried to keep in burst out, stunning all occupants in the room into staring at her. She didn't notice her breathing escalate into hyperventilation, and she didn't notice the sleeping spell Madame Pomfrey sent at her.

000

Fred watched with worried eyes as his mother was gently sent through the Floo towards the hospital wing. He had felt her tensing up more and more the past few minutes, but when she suddenly started keening he hadn't known what to do.

He exchanged a quick glance with his twin. With a nod, Fred marched towards the fireplace and followed Madame Pomfrey, his mother and his father over the Floo. George would stay to help Jenna through the next confrontation. After all, they still had to tell about the Apprenticeship!

000

"Silence!"

Once again, Dumbledore calmed the room with his magically enhanced voice. "I will enquire after Molly when this meeting is over. We still do not know how Severus has managed to locate our three wayward students."

His gaze was no longer playful. He wanted answers.

The dark Potions Master nodded sharply. He stood from his chair regally and barked sharply. "Apprentice!"

Jenna had known this would happen, and she knew how to follow custom. She stood and quickly made her way across the room. When she was in front of her Master she fell to her knees, head bowed, and held out her wand towards him on two flat palms. The proper stance of an Apprentice greeting their Master.

Master spoke silkily into the deafening silence. "It took me a few days, since she was unconscious for a long time, but I can find my Apprentice anywhere."

Dumbledore silenced any comment with a short wave of his hand. His eyes were twinkling like the sun. "And when did you gain this delightful Apprentice, my dear boy?"

The darkhaired man raised a sardonic eyebrow at the hated epithet. "I do not believe that is of any consequence, now is it Albus?"

"Not of any…I DAMN WELL WANT TO KNOW SINCE WHEN MY DAUGHTER HAS BEEN APPRENTICED TO A SNAPE!" James Potter could no longer hold in his ire.

Lily added her own two cents. "Why should we allow her to be Apprenticed, when our baby boy isn't? Gale should have an Apprenticeship, Albus. The girl doesn't need it." Without knowing it, Lily had made a serious breach in etiquette. As any wizard or witch, educated in tradition knew, Apprenticeship were decided by Magic. By saying she might not _allow_ the Apprenticeship, even though it had already been accepted by Magic itself, Lily had basically set her own judgement above that of Magic. Even James frowned at the slight.

Lily looked bewildered at the angry grumbling around her.

Dumbledore interfered before things could get out of hand. "I see we are all tired, so why don't we get some sleep. That way we all have the time to come to terms with the new developments. Tomorrow I want to come together again to speak more about Voldemort's resurrection. We will have to organize our defense quickly."

His gaze rested on Amelia Bones in particular. "We have spoken of this possibility before, Amelia."

The elderly witch nodded confidently. "I will set up the necessary precautions. Auror Shacklebolt, Tonks follow me. We have work to do at the Ministry. Moody, perhaps you can assist us as well?" The grizzly man grumbled his agreement, and limped after the others, his fake eye spinning like crazy.

One by one McGonagall, Sprout, and Flitwick left with promises to come back tomorrow. After fifteen minutes, Dumbledore even managed to convince the Potters to leave, playing on their desire to check on their son. Only after they had left, did George Weasley leave to check on his mother.

Now that his office was practically empty of people, Dumbledore let himself focus on the ones who had sparked the chaos. His eyes took in the motionless girl, still kneeling at her Master's feet with her wand offered freely. Not even the departure of her second boyfriend had sparked a movement. She had simply remained kneeling as George had kissed her bowed head, and had stepped through the Floo.

Dumbledore let his benign mask fall away and smiled at his friend. "An Apprentice, Severus? I never thought I'd see the day."

The darkhaired wizard let a small smile grace his face. "She was promising." His eyes also came to rest on the small figure at his feet. "I am not displeased with my decision."

As the conversation turned to more serious matters, Jenna bit her lip to keep in her giggles. She knew she was expected to remain silent and unmoving, but it wasn't easy with Izzy moving around under her robe. He tickled her like crazy!

Still, Jenna was happy. The first confrontation had gone as well as could be hoped. Maybe being back at Hogwarts wouldn't be as horrible as she had expected. Maybe this would all work out after all.

END CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

AN Heeelllooo! Hope you haven't forgotten me. Whooh that was a long time of no updating wasn't it? Sorry. Well, actually I'm not really very sorry since the break from writing has meant that I have passed all my courses this year! And all with 7 or higher!!! No re-sitting exams for me!

Okay, about the chappie:

Dumbles isn't a bad man. I kind of like his games, and as you might have seen I love writing the word and powergames between Snape and Dumbles. He simply has a blind spot for the Potters, but it will not be there forever, don't worry!

And yes, Molly will go through with her plan of being a sort of surrogate mother for Jenna. Her thoughts in her breakdown were slightly illogical, I know. That was the point. The strain of her missing children and the tensions in the family, coupled with the news of the Dark Lord's resurrection pushed her into a circle of fear, doubt, and guilt. Of course she has been too smothering towards her children sometimes, but nobody can deny she is a good and loving mother. She just had a bit of a breakdown.

Please keep giving me your opinion on the story. I will include POV of some more characters in the next chapters (like I did with Molly, though not as dramatic). For example a POV on the thought that Voldemort is back. I have already planned one for Padfoot and perhaps for Trowan Boot later on, but do you have ones you would like to see? I only do it to show more depth to a character, so please don't request people like Madame Pomfrey. While I like her, I have no use for her as a major character. Therefore I won't try to write a 'round character' for her.

In short: you can suggest anyone, but I won't guarantee anything. I'll try though.


	28. Chapter 27

Disclaimer: Still don't own

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

_'thoughts'_

"talking English"

°°Vampire language, also called Vampiric Mot°°

House-elf language, also called Gaëla

# Language of the Werewolves, also called Grawl #

//Language of the Goblins, also called Gobbledegook//

§ Centaur language, also called Starwan §

**Written language**

_LAST CHAPTER  
Dumbledore let his benign mask fall away and smiled a genuine smile at his friend. "An Apprentice, Severus? I never thought I'd see the day."_

_The darkhaired wizard let a small smile grace his face. "She was promising." His eyes also came to rest on the small figure at his feet. "I am not displeased with my decision." _

_As the conversation turned to more serious matters, Jenna bit her lip to keep in her giggles. She knew she was expected to remain silent and unmoving, but it wasn't easy with Izzy moving around under her robe. He tickled her like crazy! _

_Still, Jenna was happy. The first confrontation had gone as well as could be hoped. Maybe being back at Hogwarts wouldn't be as horrible as she had expected. Maybe this would all work out after all. _

Keeping her eyes firmly fixed on the intimidating back in front of her, Jenna walked through the halls of Hogwarts. It was strange to be in the school and still have to follow all the Apprenticeship rules: Walk one step to the right and two steps behind the Master. Do not speak unless spoken to. Keep eyes averted. Do not react to anything unless given explicit instruction. Wear the Apprentice bracelets in full view.

Jenna barely refrained from rolling her eyes. Those rules were only the most basic. The most obvious anyone would notice. She doubted anyone but Dumbledore, Moody, and perhaps Sirius would notice the other changes. The fact that she had braided her hair instead of wearing a low ponytail, or that the cut of her robes now reflected Master's preferred robes. Or that her robes now held a small version of the Snape crest instead of merely the Potter crest. Or that the sleeves of her robe were wider. The rules were many, and for the first time Jenna had to show her knowledge of propriety in public.

It was exhausting and exhilarating at the same time.

Out of the corner of her eye Jenna spied Headmaster Dumbledore's brightly coloured robes. Unvoluntarily she shivered. Despite the fact that the Headmaster was walking in front of her, and as such had no way of looking at her, Jenna imagined she could feel that searching gaze on her continually.

Master had admitted his suspicions about her being the One-Who-Lived.

And as Jenna had sat there, kneeling beside her Master's seat in the cozy Headmaster's office, she had felt the Headmaster focus his gaze on her. He was searching, watching, trying to determine if he had missed anything about her that could solidify these beliefs.

During the rest of the conversation Jenna had remained aware that a part of the old wizard's attention was on her. On her. On her. Always on her.

As it was now, during the trip to the Hospital Wing.

Judging her All. The. Bloody. Time!

Jenna breathed a silent sigh of relief when they reached the Hospital Wing. Anything was better than this oppressive silence. And perhaps the Headmaster would find someone else to stare at now!

Her eyes spied Fred and George sitting silently by their mother's sleeping form. Their usually cheerful faces were slightly drawn as they stared at Mrs Weasley's pale face. Jenna's first instinct was to run to her boys and comfort them, but that reflex was quickly checked. She couldn't do that anymore now that everyone knew. She had to remain at her Master's side unless he commanded her elsewhere.

The door to the Hospital Wing office opened to reveal the stout figure of Madam Pomphrey. Her no-nonsense face was firmly in place as she marched up to the two Professors and the young girl.

"Really, Albus. You should have known better."

The Headmaster twinkled innocently. "Whatever do you mean, my dear?"

Madame Pomphrey hrumphed. "You know very well what I mean. You and your games. Letting an emotionally exhausted woman go to that meeting. It's a wonder she didn't break down earlier." Her hand came up and she waved her indexfinger threateningly in her employer's face. "No more, you hear me Albus?"

With that she whirled around to return to her office, but then caught sight of Jenna.

"Oh my, Miss Potter."

She was cut off by the Potions Master sardonic voice. "Surely you can see that is no longer the proper way to address her, Poppy."

The Medi-witch turned an affronted glare to the older man, but inspected the girl anyway. Her eyes fell on the clearly visible cuffs around the young Potter's wrists and she let out a silent breath. "Oh."

Then, just as abrupt, she straightened and resumed her speech. "Well, Apprentice Potter you will still seat yourself on that bed and let me examine you. You have been missing for a while and.."

Jenna grimaced in dismay and tuned out the rant. Apprehensively she looked at Master for instruction. At his nod, Jenna curtseyed briefly to the witch. "Yes Madame." Her steps were all that broke the sudden silence at her easy compliance.

Madame Pomphrey blinked. She was used to her patients fighting against her treatment. Something in the magical core of each wizard or witch rebelled against the Healing Arts. Some researchers said it had something to do with the fact that magic, as a nearly sentient being, disliked having to depend on outside sources to help it heal. According to them, magic was incredibly self-reliant and proud.

According to the Medi-witch, most witches and wizards were just childish.

A smile spread on her face as she watched the Apprentice sit on the bed awaiting her examination. A _willing_ patient! Merlin, that was just wonderful! With a skip in her step the Medi-witch walked to the bed and started waving her wand to determine if anything was ailing the delightful girl in front of her.

000

Voices just beyond the screens around her bed woke Jenna from her slumber. Her eyes travelled over the white ceiling in confusion until the memories came back to her. The hurried flight to Hogwarts. The explanation and James' explosion. Mrs Weasley's breakdown. Dumbledore's gaze. Madame Pomphrey insistance to keep her overnight to ensure nothing was wrong.

Lazily Jenna let her eyes take in her surroundings. On two sides screens were set up to give her some privacy, but on the left side Jenna could see the next bed. The bed where Mrs Weasley had lain was now empty, and the twins weren't anywhere around either. Jenna sighed.

And then snorted as something fuzzy ticked her tender belly. Jenna lifted the blanket to see Izzy waggling and skipping around happily on her bare stomach. With a small giggle she held out her hand to the fire coloured furball, and brought him closer to her face. Izzy waggled his antenna in a strange sign of affection and continued his happy movements, accompanied by occasional squeaks.

For a while Jenna indulged in watching and petting the small animal. In the past few days she hadn't had much time to simply cuddle with her only pet and she regretted neglecting him.

It was only when the people beyond the screen suddenly started shouting that Jenna sat up and hid Izzy under the blanket again.

A few minutes later the door to the Hospital Wings was slammed shut.

Jenna remained silent when a redfaced Madame Pomphrey walked into sight. "Oh did he wake you, dear? How do you feel?" Despite the question, the Medi-Witch had already lifted her wand to run a diagnostics charm.

Jenna's voice was quiet. In those last minutes of the fight she had recognised the voice and had determined the cause of the row. James Potter wanted to 'talk' to her about her Apprenticeship.

Madame Pomphrey must have noticed the distressed look on her patient's face, because she spoke softly. "Calm, my dear. I won't let him in here with that disposition. He doesn't seem to understand that this is a Hospital Wing, intended for rest and recovery. Not for angry shouting." The witch leaned closer and smiled conspiratory. "Personally I think you've done well to land such a talented Master." Then she leaned back and her smile became a bit dangerous. "So don't you worry, dear. They don't call me the Dragon of the Hospital Wing for nothing."

Despite her worries, Jenna couldn't help but laugh along. She didn't doubt for a second how vicious this witch could become if her territory was broached.

After a few minutes of casting, Madame Pomphrey announced that Jenna would remain one more night to rest up completely. Grateful for the promise of release, Jenna acquiesced gracefully.

Just before she snuggled back under the blanket, Jenna looked around questioningly. "Where are Fred and George, Madame? Do they not need to rest as well?"

The older witch sighed. "First I let them watch over their mother, but as soon as I approached them about an examination they high-tailed out of here." Her face crunched up in annoyance. "If that blasted cat Mrs Norris hadn't suddenly come storming out of here, I would have caught them."

Jenna swallowed a giggle. She knew why the cat had run.

For some reason felines were terrified of Vampires. Always had and always would be. While most animals were wary around Vampires, on some level sensing their predatory nature, cats were usually reduced to mindless panic at the mere smell of a Vampire.

Jenna had used that knowledge to terrify the nasty beast of the caretaker whenever she could. The stupid animal had gotten Fred and George landed in detention more times than she could count.

000

The second time awaking in the Hospital Wing wasn't any less pleasant than the first time. Actually it was infinitely worse.

"WAKE UP!"

Jenna shot up in her bed, her heart pounding in her throat. Wide, scared eyes sought out the disturbance.

"How DARE you enter an Apprenticeship with Snivellus! No child of mine would do something that despicable." James Potter was almost foaming at the mouth. "And what of Galen? How will the public react to the useless sister of their saviour being Apprenticed and not him? And Apprenticed to a BLOODY DEATH EATER. HOW COULD YOU DISGRACE OUR HOUSE THIS WAY?"

Jenna whimpered pathetically. She couldn't speak, she couldn't think. The shock of being ripped so abruptly from her deep sleep combined with the instinctual fear of her father kept her from answering.

"WELL? ANSWER ME DAMNIT!"

'_I was safe here. She said..Dragon guarding…Not safe. Want Master. Fred. George. Want Master. Don't put me in the cupboard. Not the cupboard Not the cupboardNot the cupboardNotthecupboardNotthecupboardnonononon.'_ Jenna wasn't aware of starting to mumble her frantic denials out loud.

"No?" Suddenly James' voice was soft, almost whispered.

The sound broke Jenna from her thoughts and she looked up in terror.

"You DARE say NO TO ME!"

Jenna watched frozen as James raised his hand, rage in his eyes. Incredulous realisation flooded her.

'_He's going to hit me!_'

James had never hit her. Oh, he was rough and he locked her in that horriblehorriblehorrible dark cupboard, but it had always been Galen who used physical violence.

Her terrorstricken eyes watched the raised hand, anticipating the blow that would follow.

"PRONGS!"

Father en daughter both spun towards the anguished scream. There in the doorway stood Sirius Black, eyes wide open in horror and denial.

"Prongs?" It was a plea. It was Sirius asking for his best friend in the whole world to say he had not been about to strike his babygirl, Sirius' darling goddaughter. "…James?"

James lowered his hand, anger drained in the face of his friend's uncharacteristic uncertainty. "Siri, I…" He stopped. What was there to say? "I…"

Sirius shook his head slowly, eyes still locked on the scene in front of him. "No. Nonono." He took a step towards the bed and faltered, shaking his head more firmly. "No. I did not see you try to hit my goddaughter." Another step forward. "No. You love your children. You love them. You don't hit them." He looked imploringly at his best friend. "Tell me Jamesie. Tell me you love your children. Tell me you don't hit your kids."

James opened his mouth. And closed it again. He swallowed his suddenly dry throat. "Siri, I.."

The light of hope flickered in the clear blue eyes of the Black Heir. "James?"

James cleared his troat and said quickly. "I don't hit my kids, Sirius."

Sirius took another step forward, eyes wild and impossibly wide. "And you love them? You love Galen and Jenna?"

The darkhaired man nodded hesitantly. "I do. I love Galen and…"

Blue eyes flickered to the frozen girl on the bed. "Say it Jamesie. Tell me you love her."

James cleared his throat again and looked his friend in the eye as he finished his sentence. "..and Jenna."

For a few seconds no sound was made in the Hospital Wing as the two men stared at each other.

A stalemate. Then…

"LIAR!" Sirius roared. "LIAR. YOU'RE LYING TO ME JAMES. I CAN ALWAYS TELL WITH YOU. ALWAYS! WHY DO YOU LIE WHEN YOU SAY YOU LOVE THE KIDS?"

His eyes found the small figure of his goddaughter and for the first time really looked at her. She was small, much smaller than either Galen or Lily, not to mention James himself. She had her head slightly bowed, hands open placatingly, fear in her eyes. Sirius shocked himself with the realisation that this stance was nothing new. This was how Jenna always looked. Fearful. No..that wasn't true. Whenever it was just the two of them Jenna had her head held high. It was only when….

His gaze went back to his friend, his brother. And he finally saw the terrible truth he had been so blind to before. James loved Galen, yes. But not Jenna. Jenna who was cowering from her father in terror.

A memory flashed through his mind of being in a similar position, cowering from the punishments of his own father. Sirius had thought he was safe when he finally ran away to the Potters. But now James was doing the same to his own daughter.

Sirius snapped. With a roar of mindless rage, he swept his hand over a countertop and crashed the two vases of flowers to the floor.

"HOW COULD YOU? MY GODDAUGHTER! MY SWEET GODDAUGHTER AND YOU WERE GOING TO HIT HER. YOU HURT MY PUPPY!"

James glared back. He had regained his bearings. Angry Sirius was much less intimidating than the pleading version from a few minutes ago. "She deserved it, Sirius! She got herself Apprenticed to SNAPE! What do you think the public will say? And what about Galen? What do you thin.."

Jenna watched from her place on the bed, dazedly as Padfoot swung his fist towards his one time best friend. Part of her was shocked at Padfoot's violent rage, but most of her was just deeply grateful that he had interfered. And that he was on her side.

Before the fight could get completely out of hand, Madame Pomphrey entered, looking flustered. One glance was enough for her to correctly interpret the situation. With a few flicks of her wand she had separated the two men and levitated them into her office.

A few moments later, Madame Pomphrey bustled back towards her only patient and explained apologetically she had been called to speak with the Headmaster, and hadn't noticed her wards had been breached until a few minutes ago.

With professional efficiency she manipulated the trembling girl back under the blankets and poured a sleeping potion down her throat. When she was certain the young Apprentice was sleeping peacefully, she warded the bed against intruders. A final check, and then she stormed into her office to vent her anger on the men who had upset her patient.

The Dragon of the Hospital Wing was fuming.

000

From a corner, unnoticed by all, Minerva McGonagall watched the proceedings. She had come to the Hospital Wing to interrogate the Potter girl on her Apprenticeship, but had seen James enter just before her. Curious, the Head of Gryffindor had disillusioned herself and watched the scene play out.

Now, she didn't know what to feel anymore.

Right from the start she had preferred little Galen over his sister. At first it wasn't that big a difference, but Minerva had simply melted for the deep brown eyes of the baby boy.

Not that Jenna's eyes hadn't been a marvellous colour of green, but the brown reminded Minerva of James. And while Minerva liked Lily, she adored James. The prankster had been her favorite student, with his bright smile and his flair for Transfiguration. He could have become an impressive Transfiguration Master if he hadn't gone to Auror Training instead of Apprenticing to her. That remained a disappointment to her till this very day.

But in Galen's brown gaze Minerva had found a second chance. She had been sure he would be just as brilliant as his father.

Then came the night of the Attack. And little Galen had become the Saviour.

Her delight had been immense, though her rational mind had pointed out the danger he would now be in. Still, she had been happy. Her instinct had been right. Galen was powerful and would no doubt be a wonder wizard. Hopefully also at Transfiguration.

In the years that followed, Minerva spent a lot of time with Galen and slowly developed a distaste for Jenna. It was no secret that Minerva liked order and quiet, and though Galen could be a handful sometimes, it was Jenna who pulled the big stunts. Minerva couldn't count the number of times Jenna had set fire to something, broken something or started crying for no reason at all.

Minerva had watched it all with disapproval. Every time Jenna tried to draw attention in one of her tantrums or crazy actions, Minerva's contempt for the little girl grew. And then finally the crazy stunts tampered off. At age five Jenna was finally starting to learn not to draw attention that way anymore and Minerva could only nod in approval.

As time went by Jenna became less visible in the household, and there were times when Minerva forgot about the second Potter child existing. Minerva spent time with Galen and James, and all was well.

Until that day, about two months after Galen's ninth birthday.

Minerva had gone to visit the Potters and ran into Jenna first. She hadn't seen the child in more than a year, so Minerva had bent down to look at the girl's face. And then she felt it.

DANGER!

Something about the Potter girl terrified her. Her inner cat was clawing in agitation. Involuntarily Minerva had stumbled back. The girl had looked confused and had taken a step forward in question.

Unable to help herself Minerva hissed in return, her inner-cat supplying the tone, her human-side providing the instinctual words. "Get away from me, demonchild!"

The girl had turned stricken eyes upon her, before bolting down the hallway.

It was only when the girl was far away that Minerva let herself relax.

That had set the standard for the rest of Minerva's relationship with the Potter girl. Minerva was able to hide her fear much better, but she did nothing to hide her abhorrence of the girl. Though sometimes…..

Minerva knew she was being unfair when she had accused the girl of cheating after Galen had stolen her Transfigured cat. She knew it. Galen could never had achieved that so quickly. Actually Galen had shown a decidedly small ability for Transfiguration. Even foster-grandma Minerva had to acknowledge that. So she felt uneasy by wronging her student, one from her own House no less.

But the girl still inspired so much terror in her, that Minerva couldn't help herself. She _loved_ Galen, and she was _scared_ of his sister. Of course she would choose her foster-grandson over that demonchild.

Yet it felt wrong for a teacher who had prided herself on her fairness. She couldn't help it though.

Minerva also knew it was mostly her own attitude, and the complete lack of intervention (or attention) from Dumbledore after her mistreatment of the Pottergirl that had sparked the dislike of the other teachers. They relied heavily on the two senior members of the faculty for character references. So if both of them judged the girl as a cheating troublemaker, they would not look upon the student with favor either.

And Minerva did feel guilty for that.

Now even more.

Now that she knew that James, and probably Lily and Galen had mistreated the girl as well. But at the same time she couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction. A sense of gleefully knowing you were right. After all, if the girl's own next of kin did not like her, there had to be something wrong with her, just like Minerva had felt.

But Severus didn't seem to think so, and neither did Poppy. Nor the Weasley twins, troublemakers though they might be, nor Sirius Black apparently.

With one last uneasy glance at the sleeping girl, Minerva hastily walked out of the Hospital Wing.

She just didn't know what to feel anymore.

END CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

AN Okay, a lot of info in this chappie, plus an insight in Minerva. I can't remember which reviewer had suggested a look into her mind, but I thought it was a marvellous idea. I hope you were all able to connect the pieces of why Minerva dislikes Jenna.

Those crazy stunts she is talking about were Jenna's desperate attempts at gaining her parent's attention, as I have eluded to earlier. By age five Jenna had enough friends (magical creatures) outside of her familiar circle to gain an understanding that her attempts weren't working.

I also tried to explain some of the other teacher's reactions to Jenna. I think people can influence each other's views of new people quite easily without realising it at the time, especially if the person is in a position of power.

The incident Minerva is talking about when she first felt guilty for treating Jenna wrong was in a flashback in chapter eleven.

Now did you all understand why Minerva reacted like that just after Galen's ninth birthday? If you didn't, read the chapter again, because I feel I've given enough hints….alright alright, if you really don't know, you can check chapter four. In the flashback is explained exactly what happens to Jenna when she is nine years old.

Cheers everyone! 


	29. Chapter 28

Disclaimer: still don't own anything. Sigh

Warning: DEVIATION FROM CANON: In the Marauder's time, Sirius did not play the prank on Severus that sent him to the transformed Remus, James did. James did not save Severus, Sirius did. So it's exactly the other way around. Otherwise I could not make Severus and Sirius interact semi-civilly at all.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

_'thoughts'_

"talking English"

°°Vampire language, also called Vampiric Mot°°

House-elf language, also called Gaëla

# Language of the Werewolves, also called Grawl #

/Language of the Goblins, also called Gobbledegook/

§ Centaur language, also called Starwan §

**Written language**

_LAST CHAPTER_

_With one last uneasy glance at the sleeping girl, Minerva hastily walked out of the Hospital Wing. _

_She just didn't know what to feel anymore._

NEW CHAPTER

_'Red. Yes, red would be nice. Or orange polkadots. Stripes. Or bright purple stars with a silver skull in the middle! AS LONG AS IT IS NOT WHITE!'_ Jenna scowled up at the horrible, white ceiling. Last night she had spent several hours twisting and turning, despite being doused with a sleeping potion. The stress of the situation with James and Sirius' crushing devastation as he finally saw how things really were in the Potter family, played havoc on Jenna's mind. She had tried breathing excercises, had spent some more time sort-of-communicating with her mental wolf, but the sleep just would not come.

And now she was tired and cranky.

And the ceiling was still blasted white!

_Oh._ Jenna blinked. And blinked again, but the change remained. The ceiling now sported stars in the most clashing colours, literally flashing as if to get attention. One particularly ambitious star was trying to push the others out of the way to gain the spotlight for himself.

A little frown marred Jenna's face. How the hell? She knew she hadn't done this. She would have felt some drain on her core if her accidental magic had done this. Nor was this the work of Fred and George, they would have shown themselves by now.

A giggle and a muffled snort pulled Jenna out of her thoughts. Her eyes widened in disbelief at the sight that met her eyes. There, almost hidden under the bed next to her was a foot. Only a foot.

Jenna shook her head to clear it, still drowsy from the lack of sleep. Her eyes narrowed at the familiar shoe. "Viv?"

A louder giggle and the sound of someone scrambling up, pulled an involuntary smile on Jenna's face. "Viv, what the hell are you doing here? And what..wait a second, is that Tup?"

Viv pulled off her chameleon cloak and nodded cheerily. "Yep. Tup and I decided to come and stay for a while." She looked back at the bed under which she had hidden, and saw the brightly coloured mop of hair of her future mate. "C'mon Tup, you heard her. She's already seen us."

The slightly older boy slithered from beneath the bed and flopped on his back with a cheeky grin. "Hey there, cub"

Jenna let out an impressive growl in annoyance. "You can't call me cub. You aren't that much older than me, you know. Only Alpha may call me that."

The boy shrugged unelegantly from his position on the floor. "You were pouting like a cub."

"I was not!" Jenna fumed. To her annoyance this only made Tup smirk more.

"You were too."

"Was n.." She halted herself before she finished the utterly childish answer. Her eyes narrowed. Tup was deliberately egging her into a tantrum. And then she really would be acting like a cub. With an insulted huff, Jenna crossed her arms and turned away. She was tired and cranky and she didn't want to see that stupid Tup right then.

"Ah, c'mon J. Don't be such a..." Viv actually gulped at the vicious glare that was thrown her way. "Oh alright then. We were just trying to make you feel better. And can you honestly say we haven't improved the ceiling?"

"Beautiful. Now why are you here?" Jenna bit out.

Viv ignored the tone and beamed back. "To annoy my very bestest friend of course! And how very well we do that, don't we Tup?"

The languishing boy smirked. "Oh yeah."

With a roll of her eyes, Jenna gave in and smiled briefly. "Well, don't exp…"

The door of the office opened, forcing Viv and Tup to scramble back under the bed as fast as they could. And with their werewolf speed working for them, that was just fast enough.

"Awake, Apprentice Potter? Good." Madame Pomphrey strode forward in her usual manner and cast the diagnostic spell on her patient. "Yes, you seem to have recovered completely. You will still need to take things easy, and if you feel _anything_ out of the ordinary I want you here back stat. Is that understood?"

Jenna murmered her agreement, knowing she would do anything in her power to stay out of the Hospital Wing.

"Alright. Since you have slept the entire day, you are just in time for dinner in the Great Hall."

Jenna blinked confused. "Dinner in the Great Hall? I thought dinner was in the antechamber during the holidays."

The Healer chuckled. "Child, the holidays were over two days ago."

"Two days ago?" Jenna frowned in thought. The attack had been on New Year's Eve, then came the few days in Master's Manor, the days in the den of the Southern Pack, and now at least two days in the Hospital Wing to 'recover'. Yes, the holiday must have ended.

A sickening feeling settled in the pit of her stomach.

The holidays were over, so the students were back. Students who had probably read about her disappearance. Students who would now find out about her Apprenticeship to their most hated teacher.

Oh, Merlin where were Fred and George when she needed them?

Completely forgetting the two werewolves hiding under the bed, Jenna slowly made her way towards the Great Hall.

000

Taking a deep breath Jenna eased herself into the Great Hall. She tried to ignore how the entire room quieted and turned their eyes towards her, before starting to speculate in whispers on what had happened to her. The Headmaster had decided to keep the story out of the newspapers and had placed some heavy protection curses on the information. It wouldn't do for the newly resurrected Dark Lord to find out about another possibly being the One-Who-Lived.

Jenna herself had had to forcefully keep her opinion to herself when she heard that. She knew damn well that Voldemort already knew about her. And wanted her.

A cold shiver ran through her body as she remembered the terror of the mind attack.

Attuned to his Mistress's emotions, Izzy squeaked comfortingly from his pocked inside Jenna's robes. Strangely the small act of kindness went a long way towards cheering Jenna up.

Unconsciously she tilted her head back a bit, and marched all the way to the Head Table. Time to shock the masses even further! Three feet away from the platform, Jenna knelt. She had positioned herself right in front of Master's chair, and her voice clear voice easily carried over the again stunned silence of the Hall, "Good Evening, Master."

The dark haired man looked at her with slight approval on his face, and a wicked glint of amusement in his eyes. "Apprentice. You may sit at your House Table."

Jenna bowed her head in thanks. "Thank you, Master."

She stood as gracefully as she could manage in her shaky state and marched to her usual spot, where to her relief Fred and George were waiting for her. With a nearly silent sigh Jenna sank on the bench and reached for the food, resolutely ignoring the probing, curious, angry and scornful glances aimed at her.

Below the table, Fred put his hand on her thigh and squeezed it comfortingly. "Good to have you back, kitten."

George tried to speak his agreement, but with his mouth full of food he only managed, "Mrguff."

A tiny smile made its way on Jenna's face. This wasn't as bad as she had imagined it to be. She had handled the looks and the sometimes unfriendly attitudes of the students of Hogwarts for months now. Nothing had really changed, except that the students now really had something to talk about. Feeling cheered, Jenna dug in to her food with relish.

Now all she had to do was find out a way to smuggle Tup and Viv back through the Floo and everything would be fine.

000

From the Head table, Albus Dumbledore took in the chaos in his dining hall.

Children from all houses were whispering, arguing, stealing glances at either young Jenaya Potter or Severus, or outright staring at them. Most students of the Slytherin House looked stunned, or as stunned as their emotionless masks allowed them to look, or angry. Albus knew many of the more ambitious students had been vying for an Apprenticeship with their Head of House for years. To find out a Gryffindor had managed to get that favoured position was a heavy blow to their egos.

Especially since the girl in question was a Potter, the family which the Potions Master clearly abhorred.

As he watched, Albus saw some of the angry looks turn calculating. They were trying to figure out what was so incredible about Jenaya that Professor Snape would ignore her ancestry, her gender, and her House.

Albus made a mental note to keep a close eye on those students. He knew first hand how dangerous curious Slytherins could be.

His twinkling eyes ran over the Ravenclaw table, where multiple debates were going on. He had no doubt they were exploring all possible reasons and ideas on the young Potter's disappearance and subsequent Apprenticeship. Idly he wondered if any of the children would think off the possibility that the Apprenticeship was older than a few days. That it was not directly involved with the kidnapping.

At the Hufflepuff table was noticeably the least commotion. Many students were whispering, staring, and overall looking very confused. Albus let a gentle smile curve on his face. He always had a soft spot for the badgers of Hogwarts. They represented the people all should desire to be. Hardworking, loyal, determined. It was such a shame most others only saw them as weaklings. Truthfully Albus thought Hufflepuff was the strongest house, due to their companionship and ability to mingle. They supported each other, and easily made friends with their mostly open attitudes. It was refreshing in the current climate of lies and deception.

His smile slipped. The Hufflepuff attitude also meant they would be the first, or at least the easiest prey for the rising darkness. They wouldn't know how to spot the danger until it was too late.

Albus averted his eyes to the last table. His favourites. His shining Gryffindors.

To his sadness and slight shock, Albus could see a clear division in opinion. Some students were looking at the Potter girl with awe in their eyes, some with curiosity. But most of the students, especially those in Galen Potter's vicinity, were angry.

Albus couldn't contain a frown at Galen's actions. He was on his feet whispering furiously to those around him who were listening to him with rapt attention. His gestures were violent and his kind brown eyes shone with anger.

The Headmaster had known of the tension between Galen and Jenaya, but this looked more serious than sibling rivalry. He resolved to talk to James about it. He was sure it could be solved fairly easily.

000

From her position at the back of the greenhouse, Jenna fumed. It had been six days since she had been let out of the hospital wing and the students still wouldn't stop whispering.

At Master's orders she remained in Herbology class, and Care of Magical Creatures. Those were her weakest subjects as she hadn't gone beyond fifth year level yet. The rest of her time was spent furthering her knowledge in her other subjects. Master supplied texts at her level for her to study and quizzed her harshly every weekend.

At first Jenna had been relieved to be able to avoid the boring classes, but she quickly noticed it only increased the hostility towards her. The Gryffindors especially seemed to hold her privileges position against her. From experience Jenna knew this was only the build up of emotions. The explosion would come later.

Both from them and from her. Because all the whispers, poited fingers and hisses at her were driving her absolutely nuts.

The bell went, and Jenna stomped out of the greenhouse, ignoring the silent Neville following her.

She knew he was hoping for forgiveness, but she just couldn't forget that crushing fear of being locked up. Instead of glaring at him she had taken to ignoring his existence completely.

With another angry huff she stomped into the Great Hall. Automatically her eyes went up to the Head table, and she stiffened at the warning she saw in Master's black eyes. Strangely the danger of punishment calmed her, and she was able to take a deep breath and approach Master respectfully like he deserved instead of approaching in anger. As usual she kneeled, and received her permission to sit at the Gryffindor table.

With slightly better cheer she turned and walked to her usual spot.

She was blocked before she could reach it. Galen glared down at her, "Are you proud, sis? That you've become an Apprentice? To that SLIMY SNAKE? Whoring yourself out to him? Huh? Do you call him Master when he cums insi.."

"MR POTTER!" Strangely it was Professor Flitwick who stormed to the table, face reddened in anger. "Mr Potter, how _dare_ you disgrace one of our most valued traditions in this way? Becoming an Apprentice is the highest honour a wizard or witch in training can receive! Twenty points from Gryffindor for this, this…It's outragous!"

Jenna had flinched back from Galen's horrible accusations, but as soon as Professor Flitwick had started squeaking his anger, a hand steadied her. She half-turned to look in the half-glazed eyes of Trowan Boot. "Come."

He gently led her to the Ravenclaw table, where the upper class students made place for them. He smiled serenely. "I had thought I would speak with you after the holidays. How have your classes been, Jenaya?"

Jenna grumbled, inwardly relieved at the mundane turn of the conversation. It was a nice contrast from the tension just before. "I thought I told you to call me Jenna?"

The older boy smiled, "Alas. I believe I told you before that I prefer your full name, Jenaya."

As Jenna was about to snap back, Professor Flitwick skipped up beside the table. "Well done, Mr Boot. Feel free to sit at the Ravenclaw table, Ms Potter." He left quickly after that.

Jenna nodded cautiously, not sure how the other Ravenclaws would take that piece of information. To her happiness most upperclass Ravenclaws either agreed or looked uninterested.

That relief soon turned to exasperation when the students took her eye contact as permission to interrogate her on her Apprenticeship, or more importantly on all she had learned so far.

All in all, Jenna was relieved when Fred and George finally returned from their classes and frogmarched her out of the Hall for her afternoon session with Master.

000

Jenna looked up from her kneeling position on the floor when somebody knocked on the floor. She looked at Master, but he seemed as surprised as she was. After all who would want to visit the grumpy Potions Master on their free saturday?

Master strode to the door, and snarled when he saw who was on the other side, "BLACK!"

Jenna paled. She knew how much Master loathed her godfather. It wasn't as bad as his hatred for James Potter who had once played an almost fatal prank on him, but Padfoot still didn't have a good relationship with the Potions Master. Not even after he saved Master's life by preventing him from going to the Whomping Willow and thus meeting a transformed werewolf. In fact that action seemed to be why Master hated him most.

"Snape." Padfoot's voice was subdued, hollow. "Snape, can we talk? She's my goddaughter. Merlin, I..I didn't see. James. How could he? Can we talk, Snape?"

Angrily Master opened the door wider. Jenna knew it was the lifedebt that was forcing Master's cooperation, and she worried even more.

"Apprentice, out! I don't want to see you back here before dinner. OUT!"

Jenna scrambled from her mediation position, grabbed her supplies and fled out the door.

000

The hours stretched out longer than Jenna thought possible, but when she finally arrived in front of Master's door again she couldn't muster the courage to enter.

After a few minutes of deliberation the door swung open. Her eyes widened at the sight before her. Master stood in the doorway, Padfoot sat on a chair, and the entire room was ravished. Furniture was turned over, glass fragments and books lay cluttered all over the floor. Then she noticed the quickly, potion induced, healing bruises on Padfoot and even one on Master, and the veritable mountain of empty vials. All with a broken green seal, indicating their healing ability.

"M-master? Padfoot?"

Master closed the door behind her with a light click. "Your godfather and I have come to an agreement. He shall train you in 'creative duelling'." Master nearly sneered the term. "And he shall help you advance your lying abilities."

Jenna blinked, but remained silent in case this weird, but good dream suddenly stopped.

"He also wished to be there for your first animagus transformation. I have decided that that will be tonight. Prepare for transforming."

Padfoot piped in. "Wait. Take off your robe. You don't want your wand on you if something goes wrong."

Thoroughly stunned Jenna took off her robe and gave it to Padfoot, wand, Izzy and all. Then she folded into meditation position amid the rubble, and started focussing on her core.

Twenty minutes later she felt her body being covered by small feathers, felt herself shrink, and felt her body structure change. Finally it was over, and the small animal let out an anxious tweet. Acting on instinct she flapped her little wings quickly and darted to a corner to hide, and possibly escape the confining space. Her flight became more erratic as she couldn't find a nice tree or cloud to hide in.

A big hand enclosed around her gently and a low voice crooned to her. After a fierce mental struggle, Jenna managed to return to her human consciousness enough to understand the words.

"…sweet little birdie. Yes, such an itty bitty bit, you are. Yes, my littl…."

"Black, desist that ridiculous behaviour and tell my Apprentice to turn back. She has been in this form for almost an hour now. It is time to return to human form while she still can."

"Alright, alright. You heard him, my itty bitty bit! I can see you understand me again. So turn back once I put you on the ground, kay? I don't want to spend another half hour trying to catch you."

Jenna managed an embarrassed tweet and obediently forced herself to turn human once she was deposited on the ground. For a minute she lost contact with her human side again, and had already started flapping her wings to disappear again, but she managed to bury that impulse.

Panting heavily Jenna checked her hands to see if she had turned back all the way. She squeaked in dismay at finding out she had lost her clothing somewhere along the transformation. Deeply embarrassed she crossed her arms over her chest and curled into herself to hide any important bits.

"Here, puppy." Padfoot draped her own robe over her, with a smirk on his face. "I was wondering whether you'd remember your clothing." He merely grinned at her crimson shade of skin.

"So what kind of animal am I?" Jenna mumbled as she buttoned her robe closed.

Master answered with a slightly pleased tone in his voice, "A silver snidget. Not nearly as rare as the golden snidget, nor as magically powerful, but still a respectable animagusform. Resistant to summoning charms as Black just found out, good at hiding in the shadows, and the tail feathers of a silver snidget are stabilising factors in many offensive potions."

Jenna frowned. "But I thought…Aren't magical creatures impossible to become as an animagus?"

Both men looked at her as if she was stupid. "And pray tell, where did you find that pearl of wisdom?" Master asked coolly.

"I j-just. Fathe-James Potter told Galen once." Jenna stuttered, unused to feeling stupid when it came to magical knowledge.

Padfoot snorted. "I have no idea why he would tell Gale that." He looked at his goddaughter and explained sincerely, "EVERY animagus form is of a magical, or part magical animal. I am a grim, Prongs is part unicorn, McGonagall is part Kneazle. All wizards and witched have a magical core, which we need to survive. In our animal form there needs to be space for that, so the animal changes entirely or partially into a magical one. If a wizard would turn into a non-magical animal, how could they ever turn back into a human? You need magic to change shapes."

The explanation was so logical Jenna wondered why she hadn't thought of it. It was strange to really be taught something by Padfoot. Perhaps she had been underestimating his intelligence a bit because of his exuberant behaviour.

Unaware of his goddaughter's epiphany, Padfoot continued. "The only thing that separates us from the magical or part magical creature we turn into is our ability to retain our human intelligence." He winked at Jenna, "Well, if we work hard enough on it."

"And the fact that animagi don't get all the magical powers of their magical animals." Master added, seemingly pleased to be able to take over the lesson.

Padfoot continued undisturbed. "So, you're a silver snidget, and you've gained immunity to the summoning charm in that form, but not the ability to turn metal into silver."

Jenna eyed him in question. How could he know that already?

The man smiled sheepishly. "I pushed your beak against this goblet." He gestured to a clearly iron goblet.

Jenna grinned tiredly. That was so like Pads.

She yawned, feeling the drain of her first transformation on her core.

Before she slipped into sleep she felt Padfoot's familiar arms enclose her body and carry her. She was asleep before she reached her bed.

END CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

AN. Long time no see. Thank you for all your sweet reviews, and I hope you are happy with Jenna's animagus form. I thought long and hard about what would fit best, and this was it.

Not much action in this chapter, but still some interesting info don't you think?

I will include Remus and more Potter soon, as I'm going to have the Order of the Phoenix reassemble once again. Do you have anyone you wish me to include anyone specific there? And with what kind of attitude? Give me a good reason and I'll try to incorporate them, though I can tell you already that I might not succeed.

NOTE: On 18-8-2008 edited 'snitch' to 'snidget'


	30. Chapter 29

Disclaimer: Don't own any of this and I don't make any money from my little story

CHAPTER TWENTY NINE

_'thoughts'_

"talking English"

°°Vampire language, also called Vampiric Mot°°

House-elf language, also called Gaëla

# Language of the Werewolves, also called Grawl #

/Language of the Goblins, also called Gobbledegook/

§ Centaur language, also called Starwan §

**Written language**

_PREVIOUS CHAPTER_

_Padfoot continued undisturbed. "So, you're a silver snidget, and you've gained immunity to the summoning charm in that form, but not the ability to turn metal into silver." _

_Jenna eyed him in question. How could he know that already?_

_The man smiled sheepishly. "I pushed your beak against this goblet." He gestured to a clearly iron goblet. _

_Jenna grinned tiredly. That was so like Pads. _

_She yawned, feeling the drain of her first transformation on her core. _

_Before she slipped into sleep she felt Padfoot's familiar arms enclose her body and carry her. She was asleep before she reached her bed. _

NEW CHAPTER

Jenna breathed in deeply, trying to guess what was going on. When she awoke this morning curtesy of George kissing her, she had already been blindfolded. Nothing she said could make either of her boys remove the offensive piece of cloth. So now she had to rely on the guiding hands of Gred and Forge as they led her through the halls of Hogwarts.

It was liberating in some ways to feel so much trust in a person that she would let herself be blinded, Jenna decided. The mere fact that she could relax enough to let them do this, without panicking meant that even her most basic instincts agreed that Fred and George were trustworthy. And that sent a bolt of happiness through her.

So Jenna let herself be pulled this direction and then another direction, surrendering herself completely to her boyfriends. With a smile she mock-whined, "Are we there yet?"

Fred or George, she couldn't say which one with the blindfold on, smacked her butt lightly. "Don't whine, princess." George then, Jenna decided.

"And yes, we're almost there." Fred added.

Jenna felt the blindfold being removed and blinked a few times to adjust to the glaring light after having been in the dark for hours. When her eyes adjusted she let out a delighted squeal, "A picnic?"

There, beside the lake was a tartan plaid with a picnic basket on it.

George grinned happily, "You like?" He received a deep kiss for his trouble, and so did Fred. The boys shared a satisfied smirk.

"Congratulations on a successful seduction, Mr Gred."

"And you as well, Mr Forge. Magnificent work on organising your first picnic."

"Simply marvellous, old pal!"

"Absolutely stunning, old chap!"

"Gobstopping, old buddy, old bean!""

"Okay, that's enough." Jenna laughed. "I'm hungry, so I hope you brought a lot of food." She was about to sit down on the plaid when George waved his wand and transformed a pebble into a comfortable couch.

Jenna giggled, "You do realise that a picnic usually doesn't include furtniture, right?"

George shrugged, "Who cares? A couch is MUCH…" He plopped down to illustrate his point, "..more comfortable than the ground."

After a few seconds he frowned, and looked at the couch he was slowly sinking into. "Did I really make this couch _that _soft and fluffy?" By the time he had sunk into the material up to his chest he cast a suspicious look at his brother who was roaring with laughter. Then his eye slid over to his chuckling girlfriend. With a shrug he relaxed and slid down until only his head and the lower part of his legs was visible. He grinned, "As I said, this is a LOT more comfortable than the ground."

Fred winked at Jenna and then launched himself beside his brother, already talking animatedly on how they could adapt this prank for their future shop. Jenna just shook her head and chuckled as she saw him sinking into the couch beside the other boy.

She settled on the plaid, next to the food and picked a sandwich from the basket. She ignored the pouting boys who had only just realised they could not reach the food from their position imprisoned by the couch.

"Princess, you wouldn't make…"

"us starve, would you, oh most delightful…"

"stunning…"

"lovely…"

"not to mention talented…"

Rolling her eye Jenna stuffed a sandwich in each their mouths. She knew better than anyone how long the boys could keep going like that. With a quick finite incantatem she also reversed the prank on the couch, leaving the boys to sit comfortably on the inviting couch.

And suddenly the idea of having a picnic on the ground seemed like a very bad idea to Jenna. Soon she was snuggled on the couch as well.

"So.." George said between bites, "how's your training going? I mean Mr Black brought you back to the dorm last night, so it must have been quite a exhaustive night."

Jenna nodded enthusiastically. "Oh yeah, I.." A flash of colour caught her eye. She turned her head just in time to see a Ravenclaw slip behind a tree, pretending not to be evesdropping.

"Fred, could you cast a silencing ward, please? I don't like to be overheard." Her voice was admonishing, and she was pleased to see the Ravenclaw boy flush in embarrassment at being caught.

Fred cast a dark glare at the boy and then set up a privacy ward and a silencing ward, twining them together as he had been taught a few weeks before.

"Thanks", Jenna kissed him on the cheek in gratitude, and then went on proudly, "Yesterday I transformed into my animagus form for the first time!"

Both Fred and George made the appropriate impressed noises, and Jenna preened in their awe. "Guess what I am!"

George pursed his lips in thought, "A kananagaroo."

Jenna chuckled hesitantly, "Don't you mean a kangaroo?"

The redhead shook his head firmly, "A kangaroo? That is such a boring animal. No, you are a ka_nana_garoo." He nodded sagely, "Kananagaroos. Very dangerous. Verrry dangerous."

His brother nodded gravely in agreement, "Oh yes. I can't think of a single person who has met a kananagaroo and lived to tell the tale. Very dangerous indeed."

Jenna snorted, "Next you'll be telling me that a Crumpled Snorlack exists as well." She shook her head in exasperation, "You two are strange enough without adding Lovegood's particular brand of insanity to the mix."

"A Sphinx!"

The darkhaired girl looked strangely at her exuberant boyfriend. "You think I'm a Sphinx animagus?"

Fred nodded determinately.

"Despite knowing that nobody has ever been an animagus of one of the ancient ones?" Jenna said in disbelief. "Despite the fact that becoming an animagus form like a sphinx, a nundu, a dragon, or a phoenix would completely burn out the wizard's magical core."

Fred nodded with a grin.

"Aargh, you two are absolutely unbelievable." Jenna complained.

George preened. "Yes, we know."

Quickly losing her irritation at the characteristic answer, Jenna decided to reveal her secret before either of the boys would manage to piss her off and ruin her good mood.

"I'm a Silver Snidget Animagus." She said proudly. Her enthusiasm dimmed somewhat when she was faced with two uncomprehending stares.

"You're a what?"

"A Silver Snidget." She repeated, still holding on to the foolish hope that hearing the word a second time would suddenly cause the boys to know what she was talking about. When that did not happen she sighed. "You know, a Snidget. A teeny tiny little grey-silver bird. The Golden Snidget used to be used in Quidditch games." She snorted slightly at the renewed interest the boys showed the moment she mentioned the word Quidditch.

"Really?" George said with a grin. "They played with little birds? And the Seekers would have to catch the bird?"

Jenna nodded, "Yeah, but it was kind of cruel to the animals. Sometimes they died because the Seekers squeezed too hard. So somebody invented the Golden Snitch, which can fly and hide just as well as the Golden Snidget. That way the birds don't get hurt." She was warming up to her topic now. "So you have the Golden Snidget, which is really fast, can become nearly invisible, and can live under water as well. And there is the Silver Snidget. A Silver Snidget can only hide in the shadows, and can't live under water. But Silver ones _can _turn metal into silver and are resistant to summoning charms."

Now the boys looked honestly impressed.

"And you are a Silver Snidget?" Fred said with a grin. "Great! I've always wanted to have a silver quill."

Jenna blushed a bit in embarrassment. "Well, okay that is the only trait I did not get. I'm only resistant to the summoning charm and can hide in the shadows."

George looked around. "Pity it's too crowded. You'll have to show it later then. And teach us how to become anima.."

A scream pierced through the two way silencing ward, shattering the relaxed atmosphere.

As one the three students on the couch turned to the sound. Across the grounds a large figure was loping from the Main Gate to the Castle. But that was not the origin of the scream. Lined up on the other side of the Main Gate stood several blood red carriages, pulled by the most terrifying horses any wizard could ever encounter: Vocating Tarpans. Better known as the Screaming Horses.

The reason for the immediate fear was that only one species could ever control the stocky, pale horses. Any wizard who had the misfortune of seeing and, more often than not, hearing a Vocating Tarpan would know without a doubt that Vampires were around.

A slow grin grew on Jenna, though it faded when she realised the only reason the Vampires would ever come to Hogwarts. Voldemort must have hit the Blood Nation badly.

She frowned thinking back on the past week. The Ministry had tentatively acknowledged a rise of Dark Magic, but not one politician had dared to utter the name Voldemort. Still, most wizards and witches had their suspicions on who was behind the uncomfortable atmosphere taking hold of the magical world. Everyone felt it.

There had been no real attacks though, so the more optimistic (and foolish in Jenna's opinion) people maintained that it was all imagined.

Jenna glanced at the carriages, a shudder running through her. The war was really starting now.

From the Castle a blue figure with a shining white beard walked steadily to the Gate, followed by one in black flowing robes, who could only be the Potions Master, accompanied by the stocky figure who had sounded the alarm. Only then did Jenna recognise the form of the Groundskeeper.

"I wonder what the Vampires are doing here." George said quietly, though his eyes showed he had a good idea. Suddenly he sat up, "What are you going to do, Jen?"

Still dazed from the idea that Voldemort would have the guts to attack the Blood Nation, Jenna replied with a stunningly intelligent, "Huh?"

"He asked what you were going to do," Fred answered, a note of agitation in his voice. "How are you going to keep your marks a secret? You've told us enough about Vampire customs that you will brutally offend the Vampires if you don't follow their rules. But that means all wizards will know about you being marked."

Jenna paled. She hadn't thought about how she would go about greeting them. And she knew very well it would be a fatal mistake to try to disregard what she had learned during her stays in the Vampiric Communities.

Her eyes stayed trained on the carriages which were now riding up to the Castle. She would just have to keep an eye out and hope this would all resolve itself.

000

Dumbledore peered over his moonshaped glasses at the visitors sitting across from his desk. Absently he grabbed the tin of sherbet lemons and was about to offer it to his guests when he remembered just what species he was dealing with. An offer of sherbet lemons would not be appreciated by the vampires, no matter how tasty the little candy drops were.

"Now that we are all settled, may I enquire for the reason of your visit?"

The rightmost creature nodded sharply, though he looked displeased at the lack of a proper introduction. Subtly he showed his disgust of the wizard in front of him by refraining from offering his name and title.

"The Wizard Dark Lord and his army have attacked us. We were of course successful in repelling the attack, but we wish to know what is being done about this problem. If this happens again it may leave our High King no choice but to declare war on the entire Wizarding population." The Vampire watched with grim satisfaction as the old wizard paled ever so slightly.

"I see." The old wizard nodded solemny, hiding his anxiety. If there was one thing the Wizarding World could not use now, it was the Vampires declaring war. There would be nothing left after the Blood Nation was done with the human society. Dumbledore sucked on the sour candy in his mouth, trying to formulate an acceptable reply. His eyes brightened when a sudden idea came to him. It was wild and unheard of but perhaps it would be the thing to save the Wizarding World.

"I see." He repeated with more expression. "I understand your position. You have every right to be angry, but a full out attack on the Wizarding World would not be the best path to take." Dumbledore took notice of the stiffening of the bodies of his guests, and hid a wince. He had committed another faux pas no doubt. He sighed to himself silently, if only he had invested some more time in finding out the customs of the Blood Nation. Then this talk would have gone a lot smoother, no doubt.

Bravely he carried on. "There are many good and noble witches and wizards willing to fight against our common enemy, just as a large number good and noble witches and wizards have been killed during Voldemort's first rise. We feel your sorrow."

Again the Vampires showed signs of contempt, but Albus blithely ignored it. Years of dealing with politicians had taught him never to show weakness in the face of such disdain.

"To save as many as possible in this second rise of the Dark Lord, steps have been taken to resurrect our primary force of the Light; the Order of the Phoenix." Here Dumbledore stopped to let the glorious name sink in. The reaction to his words was hard to read, but the old wizard felt positive the vampires didn't completely reject his message. And then came the hard part, his wild idea, "Now that Voldemort has attacked your most honourable nation, and we are united in our anger, I extend the welcome of the Order of the Phoenix. You are welcome to join and prevent Voldemort from attacking once more."

Complete silence filled the office. The Vampire on the right looked completely stunned, though a growing ire on his face showed how he perceived the offer. "You DARE to…"

The Vampire on the left, who had been silent up until that point, held up his hand silencing the other immediately. "Maxoda Yian, I believe it is time for us to leave." His cold voice sliced through the air. "And you Wizard Master Dumbledore." He rose to his feet slowly, advancing on the still seated Headmaster. "I suggest you learn some decorum, if you do not wish to make a most formidable enemy. We will leave things be for now, and merely defend if the foolish Dark Lord attacks us again. But.." His voice trailed of most ominously, "…but if you have not found a way to properly communicate with us the next time we visit, you may have a lot more problems than one weak Dark Lord."

He inclined his head slightly to the left, while baring his teeth, in farewell.

Dumbledore watched silently as the two powerful beings left his office. With a sigh he braced his head on his hands. That had not gone well at all. And if remembered correctly, that farewell had been about the worst insult a Vampire could show anyone.

The old wizard sighed again. He needed to talk to Severus. Perhaps they would be able to figure out a solution to this problem together.

000

Jenna watched from the couch as the carriages left. On the one hand she was relieved, because it meant she could keep her secrets a little longer, but on the other hand….she would have liked to see one of the Blood Nation again. She missed Maxoda Xele something terrible, not to mention her Sire.

With a sigh she snuggled back against George, relaxing against his warmth. Her voice trembled a bit, "It has feels like years since I last saw a Centaur, or a Veela, or a Goblin…" She trailed off.

"Sometimes I wonder whether it is even worth it." She admitted to the frowning boys. "My marks I mean. Sometimes I wonder what they really mean." At the incomprehending stares she elaborated, "I have an adopted Goblin father, Vampire Sire, Werewolf Alpha, Centaur Parent, and the Veelas, the House Elves…But when it really comes down to it, they don't help me. They CAN'T help me, because I would be in so much trouble if anyone found out about my marks. Master is now finally free to protect me, but more often than not he is somewhere in his lab."

Jenna sighed sadly, "When it really comes down to it, you two help me out. And all my adopted parental figures…They try, but.."

Fred nodded sympathetically, "Yeah."

"Well," George added in a much more upbeat voice, "Then you should be very thankful that you have us!" His eyes glinted happily when he saw the younger girl was perking up. "And I do believe we should be thanked for that, so why don't we …" He whispered the rest in Jenna's ear, causing her to turn bright red.

"George!" She gasped in only half mock-outrage.

"Ah, c'mon, sweets." Fred cajoled who had caught most of his brother's whispered words. "Just imagine it!"

A snort escaped Jenna's mouth as she did as she was asked. It _would _be funny.

With one last eyeroll she nodded. "Okay, let's go. Just make sure Filch doesn't catch us. He already suspects us, well you two actually, for the last time Mrs Norris ended up in the Lake. If he finds us anywhere near the scene of the prank this time, he is likely to attack."

George grinned as he watched Jenna pack up the remaining picnic items happily, her mind already thinking ahead to what Mrs Norris would look like after they were through with her.

Succes again.

000

In the cluttered office the two men stared at each other. "So it time, then?"

The older nodded tiredly. "Can you please give me your pendant, Severus?"

Snape stiffly pulled out his phoenix pendant, invisible to those that were not sworn in to the Order of the Phoenix.

Dumbledore turned his head to the watching bird. "Fawkes, if you would?"

The Phoenix warbled mournfully, but did as he was asked. The moment his beak touched the pendant, pendants started glowing all over Britain. Several, like the twenty-one pendants in Hemsfield Cemetary for War Heroes, would glow uselessly, their owners no longer among the living. Others, such as the pendant glowing in the Burrow and the two glowing in Potter Manor, would give to their owners at the same time a feeling of comfort and fear.

The War had started again.

And the Order of the Phoenix was calling its faithful.

END CHAPTER TWENTY NINE

AN) Ok, I messed up a bit. I meant 'snidget' not 'snitch' in the previous chapter, and I hope you lot are satisfied with the explanation of what a 'snidget' is. (The golden snidget really is part of the Harry Potter world as far as I know, though I made up the silver snidget and all the properties of the snidget.)

In case you hadn't understood earlier, it was because McGonagall is a part Cat animagus that she is so scared of Jenna. Around Jenna's ninth birthday she received her Vampire Mark, which since then has terrified both McGonagall and Mrs Norris. Hehe. Kudos to you all who got it.

Lastly, Yes it has been waaay too long, but I'm sure all you writers out there understand. Life just gets in the way sometimes. Sigh.


	31. Chapter 30

Disclaimer: Don't own anything

CHAPTER THIRTY

_'thoughts'_

"talking English"

°°Vampire language, also called Vampiric Mot°°

House-elf language, also called Gaëla

# Language of the Werewolves, also called Grawl #

//Language of the Goblins, also called Gobbledegook//

§ Centaur language, also called Starwan §

LAST CHAPTER

_The Phoenix warbled mournfully, but did as he was asked. The moment his beak touched the pendant, pendants started glowing all over Britain. Several, like the twenty-one pendants in Hemsfield Cemetary for War Heroes, would glow uselessly, their owners no longer among the living. Others, such as the pendant glowing in the Burrow and the two glowing in Potter Manor, would give to their owners at the same time a feeling of comfort and fear. _

_The War had started again. _

_And the Order of the Phoenix was calling its faithful._

NEW CHAPTER

A ghostlike figure watched from behind the glass of the small window as the first guests apparated just behind the iron gates of Hogwarts. It was hard to see in the dark, but the silent watcher could just make out the person opening the gates for the newcomers. It should have been a surprise to see Argus Filch actively helping the Order of the Phoenix enter the grounds, especially considering the caretaker's frequent rants on the way Dumbledore ran Hogwarts. But the spectator did not find any surprise or amusement in this unexpected turn of events. He had long suspected the Squib was as loyal to Dumbledore as he himself was.

Black eyes turned to identify the trickle of people making their way to the side of the building to enter through the old servants' gate.

'Diggle, MacMorten, Peters, Lozen' He sneered spitefully as he identified the next two people. 'Potter and Potter, but surely....' His eyes narrowed in anger as he saw the couple walk to the main entrance. 'What? Are they _trying _ to be spotted?' The reason for the Potters' detour turned out to be their son, who came darting out of the entrance, clearly having made his way down from the Common Room in a hurry.

'NO! How dare they bring along their son?' The Potions Master seethed silently, before a cruel smile broke out on his face. 'Very well, they shall have their wish then.'

With a frown of concentration the dour man sent out a summon through his Master's link to his Apprentice. If the Potters could bring their son, Albus had no right to keep Severus from having his apprentice at the meeting.

His mind already on the chaos this little act would wreak on the meeting, Severus turned back to the window, absently making a note that Moody, Shacklebolt, and the young Metamorphagus had arrived.

000

Jenna sat bolt upright in her comfortable bed. Master was summoning her! Blindly she grabbed around her, trying to find clothes to put on. She had to hurry. Master had never summoned her before, so for him to do so in the middle of the night meant that something was going on.

In her rush to go to Master she accidentally woke George, the lightest sleeper of her two boyfriends.

"Whazzamatter?" George yawned.

"Gotta go, George. Gotta go now." Jenna murmured, having located her pants and now looking around for her shirt and robes. "Master calls me."

George tried to open his eyes, but finally sank back into sleep after mumbling back, "Magic, love."

"What?" Jenna asked irritably. She didn't receive and answer as George had fallen asleep again. Instead she mumbled to herself, "Magic. Yes, yes I know I can…" She let out an explosive breath in realisation, "…do magic."

With three spells she was clean, dressed, and throroughly awake. It had taken less than 5 seconds.

Casting a grateful glance at her snoring and..drooling boyfriend Jenna hurried out of the room to Master's quarters. She found him waiting at the door of his chambers, a frown on his face as he took in her school robes.

"Why are you not wearing your proper robes?"

Jenna looked at her Hogwarts Robes and understood the problem. "You wish me to wear my complete Apprentice Outfit, Master?"

The Potions Master nodded once, and led her back into his rooms. Silently disapproving he walked to his closet and took out the only other version of his Apprentice's Official Robes. She should have known to arrive in official clothing when he summoned her. He would organise a punishment training soon.

Jenna winced, well aware of the ire of her Master. In hindsight it was stupid she hadn't worn her Official Robes. They still hung in her closet. She was grateful now that Master had insisted on two complete identical outfits, and had kept one in his own chambers.

Bowing deeply in gratitude and remorse Jenna accepted the bundle of clothing and quickly undressed. She slipped on the silver silk undergarments and gloves, the black dragonhide pants and vest, attached the black collar with pendant around her neck, and swirled the open black cloak around her shoulders. With two bands she attached the cloak to her lower arms to give the impression of wings. As a last touch she removed the invisibility charm on her Apprenticecuffs, showing her position proudly.

Master still didn't look happy, but at least he didn't look as angry as before. Jenna sighed in relief.

"Come. We are to attend the first meeting of The Order of the Phoenix." Master spoke silkily and turned abruptly leaving his Apprentice to follow after him quickly.

Within minutes Jenna had lost all sense of direction. She had thought she was well acquainted with the Castle, having spent months exploring the building with Fred and George. But Master led her from secret passageway to secret passageway in such a confusion path that she had no choice but to follow blindly and hope Master did not get lost.

When Master finally halted Jenna nearly walked into his back.

"The Phoenix Fire shall devour all that oppose it."

Jenna had heard Master speaking passionately about his potions, but never had she heard him utter any words with such fanatical fervour as those few words. The young Gryffindor allowed her eyes to smile. How could anyone ever suspect her Master was anything but a staunch supporter of Albus Dumbledore? Outwards she kept her face a blank, as was befitting an Apprentice. She would only show emotion on her Master's say so.

The wall shimmered after Master had spoken and allowed him to pass through. Jenna followed hesitantly. The moment she touched the wall it reformed into bricks, locking her out.

She swallowed harshly, but reminded herself that she had not yet earned the right to enter into the sacred rooms of the Order of the Phoenix. Gracefully she stepped out of the way to allow others to enter if they wished so, and sank to her knees, hands clasped behind her back. Then she stilled, awaiting commands from her Master.

000

"I welcome you, my friends." Albus Dumbledore surveyed the room of people with a small twinkle in his eye that dimmed at his next words, "It is with regret in my heart that I announce the Wizarding World once again has need of the Order of the Phoenix."

An anxious murmur went through the room and Albus held up his hand to regain the silence.

"My sources have confirmed the rebirth of Voldemort."

This time not even Albus' raised hand could halt the flow of anxiety.

"My friends…" The aged Headmaster had to repeat his words to get his message across, "My friends, we need to keep a clear head in this time of strife."

Slowly the room settled. Albus nodded with a smile, "I am confident we will conquer him again, especially now that we have such an early warning." His words eased the tension in the room, and it was only a few people who noticed that the Headmaster did not seem entirely sure of his own words.

James Potter wasn't one of those observant people and stated loudly, "Of course we will win. My boy Galen defeated the bastard once already." He clapped his hand on his grinning son's shoulder. He did not noticed Albus looking pensively at the young boy, before the old Headmaster's eyes sought out those of his protégé.

Severus inclined his head to the door minutely and Dumbledore's eyes widened imperceptably before a little smile played around his mouth.

"Yes, we are fortunate to have young Mr Potter with us today," Dumbledore smiled, "but since young Galen is here I feel it would be prudent to ask young Apprentice Potter to join us as well. As the Apprentice to one of the Order Members she is bound to the same vows and secrecy oaths as her Master. Severus if you would?"

James' face soured, but he clearly was afraid to speak of his objections in front of the Headmaster and the entire Order. Galen had no such compunctions and muttered angrily, "Why does that little freak get to come here as well? I earned my place. I am the Boy-Who-Lived! She's only the git's apprentice, and Merlin knows what she did to become even that. Tell them, Dad!"

Dumbledore's eyes widened in shock, and Severus watched with hidden delight as the Potters blithely destroyed their own good name with many of their friends when they indulged Galen instead of reprimanding him. Lily's reaction of coddling the boy and agreeing with his every words caused many of her friends to look at her in shocked disgust.

James didn't realise how much he was giving away when he snorted in agreement with his son, but when he looked up to meet his mentor's eyes he suddenly became aware of what he had done. And that nobody seemed particularly impressed with him or his family.

He drew himself up haughtily and said, "Jenaya has been a large disappointed to my family for years. She exhibits none of the Potter traits and treats us like enemies. She has hurt us greatly and has created badwill between herself and her brother. My boy Galen tried to forge a connection between the two of them, but Jenaya coldly defied him. This has put us at odds with each other."

To Severus' disgust he could see most people in the room accept the explanation that everything was Jenna's fault. The Potter family's clout was too powerful for people to truly question them on anything. _'But_', he tried to think positively, '_This was the first step towards outing the true nature of the Potters. My time will come.'_

A glance at the Headmaster showed just how disturbed he was at the attitude towards his pupil. Severus could almost see the old man go over his memories, trying to discern whether this attitude had recently developed, or whether he had missed something of this magnitude. The slight frown between Dumbledore' eyebrows alerted Severus to the fact that the Headmaster had finally clued in on the situation.

Nevertheless, the old wizard's outward façade remained as placid and grandfatherly as always. Severus couldn't help but be impressed once again by the control Dumbledore had over his emotions.

"Still, I feel it prudent to invite Severus' apprentice to this meeting as well. Her very being is bound to her Master, and as such she has a right to take her place beside him." The Headmaster's voice was gentle, but firm. Not even the Potter males would go against that voice. "Severus, if you would?"

Severus nodded curtly, and stalked to the archway that was the entrance. He placed his hand on the stone beside entrance, and sent out a pulse of his magic in question. The energy immediately returned, informing him that his Apprentice had taken up a kneeling position to the side of the door, and hadn't moved since he left her alone. With a slight nod of approval, Severus linked his magic to the girl, pulling her to her feet and through the archway.

As green eyes met black, the Potions Master let his approval show at the way Jenna placidly let herself be manipulated into place. The girl answered with a quick quirk of her lips, and then broke eye contact in order to perform a low bow to her Master.

Without looking at the girl, Severus stalked back to his seat, secretly relishing in the gasps of his fellow Order members as they saw, probably for the first time in their lives, an Apprentice following the traditional customs of clothing, hairstyle, and behaviour.

If she was performing well, she would now be….

A slight scuffle, followed by a light thud reached Severus' ears. The Potions Master did not allow his pride to be visible at his perfectly trained Apprentice. She had performed the customary scan of the room for danger, had then bowed both to the Host and the most important guest, in this case Dumbledore and Fawkes, and had then dropped to her knees, keeping her Master between her and those she deemed most likely a danger to her. Severus saw the moment it registered with Dumbledore that the one Jenna had deemed an enemy was James Potter. The blue eyes widened in heartbreaking sadness, and resignation.

For a moment the old man looked old.

Then he opened his eyes again, and twinkled at his audience. "Now that we are all present, I would like to go over the plans."

000

Three hours later all information had been exchanged, and tasks had been assigned. The aurors would keep working on their fellow aurors, attempting to weed out dark followers. Those working in the ministry would do the same to their own colleages. The teachers would keep a very close eye on the safety of the school. The information gatherers were sent out to see whether they could pick up snippets of information from the streets, and the others would start working on a plan to protect the families of muggleborns.

Dumbledore smiled at his group of fighters. "Now that we each have our role, there is one more issue I would like to discuss with you." His smile faded slightly, and his earlier concern returned. "I have had a visit from the Nightwalkers."

Around the room shifted uneasily. While there hadn't been any violent altercations with the vampires for years, the fear remained.

"They came bearing news that Voldemort has attacked their nation."

Blue eyes narrowed slightly in thought as his protégé's Apprentice stiffened. He filed the reaction away for later, needing his attention to keep the room full of anxious wizards and witches calm.

"They disliked my way of interacting with them, and have issues a serious warning for me to clean up my act so to speak. However, I do not have the time, nor the materials to brush up on vampiric customs, and therefore I am asking your input. Does any of you have experience with dealing with vampires?"

A couple of the Aurors lifted their hands, but were forced to lower their hands when Dumbledore clarified that he meant experience with non-violent interaction with vampires.

When it stayed quiet Dumbledore sighed and nodded. "Very well then. I hereby close this meeting of the Order of the Phoenix."

His old eyes blazed for a moment, giving every person in the room the feeling he was looking into the very core of their being. "May the Phoenix fire consume those that stand against us."

One by one the wizards and witches vacated the room, the Potters carrying their sleeping son, until only the Headmaster, the Potions Master and his Apprentice remained.

Dumbledore stared into the kneeling child's eyes intently, before suggesting gently, "Why don't you take a seat on a chair. You must be stiff from keeping position this long."

After a glance for permission at her Master, the Potter girl did as she was asked, woodenly walking over to the comfortable couch that had appeared at the wave of Dumbledore's wand. "Go to sleep, dear child. It is late, but I must speak with your Master before you two can leave."

Jenna nodded sleepily and sank into the inviting softness of the couch.

000

The room was quiet for a long time, with only soft snores breaking the oppressive silence.

"I have erred. "

Severus kept his face blank, staring at the man across the room. Albus was _old_ tonight.

"I have failed most terribly, Severus. I have made a terrible mistake." The words sounded painful, pulled to the front in an agonizing confession. "Terrible. And yet," here Albus made a cross between a snort and a sigh, "and yet I don't know where I went wrong."

His blue eyes flicked to the sleeping girl on the couch. "I saw how much she and her brother fought. Their whole lives they have fought, Severus. Over toys, over their parents, over the press attention, over me. I thought it would pass. But it hasn't. Now they have divided Gryffindor House with their antagonism. I was going to bring it up with James, so sure it could be resolved fairly easily. I saw sibling rivalry, but tonight…Severus, I looked into Galen's eyes and saw _hatred_. And in Jenna's eyes...She put you between her and her family, Severus! She _fears_ them. Fears Galen. How is that possible? How can magical twins..? The bond, Severus. The magical _twin _bond! They are one soul together, Galen and Jenna. How, _how_, can they hate each other?" His eyes were openly vulnerable as he stared at his protégé. "How can they hate _themselves _so deeply?"

The elderly wizard shook his head roughly. "And James. I did not see. She is afraid of James, Severus. How can I have been so blind? He…no, _they _have never…it wasn't just James was it, my boy? Lily…When the children disappeared on New Year Molly was frantic. Why wasn't Lily? Severus tell me please. How much have I failed to see? Am I the cause for this?" Albus sounded frail.

Severus suppressed the urge to shift uneasily. He had never seen his mentor like this, and it was unsettling to watch. But at the same time, at the same time it felt so _good _to finally watch James Potter fall from grace in Albus' eyes. Finally, Albus would realise what he had done by always favouring the Potters. By favouring his Gryffindors. Now Albus would see just what his actions had cost others, what they had cost Severus, and Jenna, and the many nameless victims of the Marauders, and even what they had cost Galen. The boy was twisted back and forth by the public to the point that he could no longer love himself, love his other half.

But above all, it _hurt _to see invincible, well-meaning Albus crumble. And Severus found himself speaking. "You have made mistakes, Albus. You should never have allowed Potter to get away with some of his actions. He almost killed me with his pranks. And you should _never _have allowed Potter, the younger brat, to grow up exposed to his fame like this. As the Mugwump you could have restricted press clearance to allow him to grow up under normal circumstances." Severus kept his voice even, not showing he noticed his mentor sink further into a slump.

"However, you are only human, Albus. It is not your job to solve the Potter family problems, nor is it your role to take blame or credit for how the children or their parents have turned out. You have been blind. Now you finally see. All that remains for you to decide is what to do now that you finally see the Potters for what they are."

Severus stood up from his chair abruptly, relishing in the gobsmacked look on the older wizard's face. "Good night, Albus. If you come by tomorrow after classes I may have a solution to our vampire problem."

With a swirl of his robes Severus turned to the couch and flicked and jabbed his wand sharply, "Mobilicorpus!". With one last nod at the now thoughtful Headmaster the youngest teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry left the room, his sleeping apprentice bobbing after him.

END CHAPTER THIRTY

Sorry! Sorrysorrysorrysorry that it has taken soooooo long. I could give excuse after excuse, and they are all valid, but they won't change the fact that it took me FOREVER to post this. I can't promise anything, but I hope to post a new chapter somewhat soon. It's not written yet though. I don't even know what will happen in it exactly. But at least it won't take as long as last time, okay?

Thank you to those who reviewed even though it seemed the story was abandoned. I really needed the kick up the butt!

Cheers,

Fire of the Lioness


	32. Chapter 31

Disclaimer: Don't own anything

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

_'thoughts'_

"talking English"

°°Vampire language, also called Vampiric Mot°°

House-elf language, also called Gaëla

# Language of the Werewolves, also called Grawl #

/Language of the Goblins, also called Gobbledegook/

§ Centaur language, also called Starwan §

_PREVIOUS CHAPTER_

_Severus stood up from his chair abruptly, relishing in the gobsmacked look on the older wizard's face. "Good night, Albus. If you come by tomorrow after classes I may have a solution to our vampire problem."_

_ With a swirl of his robes Severus turned to the couch and flicked and jabbed his wand sharply, "Mobilicorpus!". With one last nod at the now thoughtful Headmaster the youngest teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry left the room, his sleeping apprentice bobbing after him. _

NEW CHAPTER

"You wished to see me, sir?"

Albus smiled gently at the child in front of him. "Yes, my boy, have a seat." He gestured at the soft, deep purple sofa at the centre of the room. This conversation required a more comfortable setting than the hardbacked chair usually reserved for errant students.

With a small sigh, dreading the upcoming confrontation, Albus sat down across from his student in his most luxuriously soft chair. "How are you coping with the revelations from last night, my boy?"

Galen Potter cocked his head to the side in mild confusion. "You mean about that the fre-..that _she_ is an Apprentice to Snivellus?"

Albus narrowed his eyes slightly, "No, Galen. I was talking about the situation with the War. You knew about the apprenticeship already. Everyone has known about it since the New Year's situation. And I do not appreciate your language, young man."

The boy squirmed under the disapproving stare of the Headmaster and mumbled, "Sorry. I just meant that it isn't right that _she _can be an apprentice and not me."

The old wizard leaned forward in his chair, worried at the glazed look in the boy's eyes. "Galen, look at me. Did you honestly not remember about your sister's…"

"SHE'S NOT MY SISTER!"

"Galen!" Albus watched in shock as the normally cheerful teen shot up from his chair and paced the length of the room angrily.

"No! Don't do that. Don't DO that. Don't talk to me like that, all disapproving." Galen gestured wildly with his arms. "It's not like you don't think the same about her. Everybody does. She's weird and she's always nagging and such a bloody little miss perfect. And then they pretend they feel sorry for her when I say something. But when I push they always pick my side! They like me better, always. ME!"

Albus was silent, uncertain how to respond to this sudden burst of uncharacteristic anger.

"And they should like me better! They should! Because I'm the Boy-Who-Lived and I've saved them all. And now.." Galen stumbled over his words for the first time in his furious monologue, "now I'm going to save them again. Just like dad said."

"My dear boy, you do know that it is not all down to you? We are all in this together." Albus tried to tackle the slightly easier problem first. "That's what the Order is for. The soldiers of the Light side are numerous, spread all over Britain. You are not expected to solve this problem alone."

"They expect me to!" Galen's eyes were wild. He threw an arm out at in the general direction of the Great Hall. "They look at me, they love me. I am the Saviour! And it's not even war yet. Can you even imagine what they'll be like when the war really starts up again?"

"Oh, my boy." Albus closed his eyes in deep sadness. He had worried about the weight of fame upon the child, the cost of the constant admiration and expecatation, especially in light of the looming war. But after the boy's careless disposition during the Order meeting the night before Albus had been fairly sure that Galen was coping well. This little meeting had really been intended as much to reassure the last remaining niggle of caution as to explore just how much the relation between the Potter twins had deteriorated.

In hindsight it did seem thick to believe that a fourteen-year-old would be unaffected by the weight of the world on his shoulders. Albus could have hexed himself. "Why didn't you come to me before, Galen?"

The boy scoffed, "You do exactly the same." His eyes narrowed at the old man in suspicion, "But you don't anymore do you? You don't look at me anymore like I'm the answer to your prayers. I've seen it. Now you look at Snape and at _her_."

Albus reached out with his hand but Galen backed out of reach. "Oh, my dear, brave grandson. I have done you a great disservice. You and your sister both."

"Stop talking about HER! I don't want to talk about her."

"Galen! Ga-"

But Galen had already stormed out of the office, leaving Albus to stare after him, pensive and worried.

000

"You wished to see me, Albus?"

Albus blinked. It felt like a déjà vu. Only this time the messy-haired young man in the doorway smiling at him cheerfully was the father and not the son of the Potters.

"Yes, James. Do sit down, my boy." Nodding in approval as the man took a seat Albus began his second delicate conversation of the day.

"James, I am worried about your family."

James Potter sat up in concern. "Has something happened with Galen?"

"In a way this concerns Galen, yes." Albus sighed, "I just had a meeting with him to discuss the revelations of last night and apparently I hit upon a sore topic for him. He was somewhat displeased with my questions about his relationship with his sister."

"Is that it?" James relaxed back from his tense position. "Galen and Jenaya have never gotten along, Albus you know that. She's always been jealous of my boy. You should have seen some of the stuff she pulled when she was younger. Do you know she actually set the curtains on fire once, deliberately?" He shook his head in aggravation. "It was the night of the Minister's visit and there was a reporter there that almost wrote about it in the Prophet. Luckily Cornelius prevented the article from being printed. Can you imagine that woman actually had the nerve to write Lils and I were mistreating Jenaya?"

"Sometimes," James went on, leaning in as if sharing a secret with a close friend, "sometimes I truly wish Galen didn't have a twin. All she ever does is bring embarrassment to the family and cause problems for us. And with this Apprenticeship…" He looked up in surprise, "Oh did you want to ask Galen to become your Apprentice? Is that it, Albus? Is that why you invited first him and then me here?" His eyes lit up, "Yes, I can see it now. Of course, my boy needs a proper Wizarding Bond to truly train and become the man he is meant to be."

The twinkle had died out in Albus' blue eyes as James' monologue went on. "No, James I simply do not have the time for an Apprentice at this moment. But I am concerned about the twin bond. How could it have degraded like that? They are one soul in two bodies!"

"That's just a myth, Albus!" James laughed, "Didn't you know that that theory was disproved years ago by Gilderoy Lockhart? Look, Galen and Jenaya will never get along until she learns her place in the family. And frankly, I don't see it happening any time soon with how she's behaving at the moment. Besides, we can't spare the energy to coddle her with the War starting up again. Really, Albus I think it would be best if you leave this be." His voice took on a warning note, "Potter business stays in the family."

Albus fell silent. There was nothing to be done at this moment. Any more prying or well-intended advice would only alienate the Potters, and despite everything Albus could not afford dissention in his ranks. Not now.

Any action would have to be covert. He needed to consult with Severus.

"I see. Well, then I suppose I am to bid you a good day then, James."

If James noticed the coolness in his mentor's voice he didn't let it show. "Right then, I'll see you soon. Have a good day, Albus!"

Ancient blue eyes watched the door close.

000

"Care for a game, Albus?"

A smile of delight lit up the lined face of Hogwart's oldest wizard. "Severus! Come in, I didn't even notice you!"

The dour Potions Master let the corners of his mouth turn up slightly. This was the first time he had managed to enter the old man's sanctuary without tripping any of the silent alarms. It was a victory he would savour in private, and for many years.

Gracefully he sat across from his employer, and gestured lazily at the chessboard that had appeared on the desk between them. "Any preference for colour?"

"None at all, my friend."

Severus inclined his head and plucked a white pawn from the board with his potionstained fingers and placed the protesting soldier two squares ahead. "Your move."

For several minutes the office was quiet, with only the triumphant or lamenting little shouts of the chessmen to interrupt the perfect stillness in the office. It was always interesting to see who would break the silence first. Unusually it was Albus who spoke first, mumbling the words that were clamouring to come out.

"I have spoken with the Potters today."

Severus looked up sharply, disturbed by both the quick capitulation in their game of silence and the almost dead quality of the Headmaster's voice. "I see."

"No, you don't see, my dear friend." Albus shook his head slightly, "there is something wrong in that family. More than anger, perhaps even more than hatred. Somehow, Galen had forgotten that his sister is your Apprentice, Severus. He tried to deny it when I questioned him, but I could see it in his eyes. Despite all the anger he has expressed over the situation before, last night he was completely ignorant of it."

Severus frowned, "Did he show any signs of obliviation?"

"No, his eyes were glazed instead of empty and he seemed to recall everything as the conversation continued. But then he became upset over the situation with the War." Albus stayed quiet for several moments. "He is very afraid to disappoint anyone. He is overwhelmed by the pressure on him. Yet…at times he seems to relish the attention, the worship."

"At times?" Severus sneered, unable to keep his irritation out of this important and candid conversation. "That brat is nearly continually busy with gathering admirers, and appeasing his fans. It is his life's work."

"I am aware of Galen's less attractive aspects," Albus concurred, "but this morning he truly seemed disturbed about them, about the entire situation. This is a student in trouble, Severus, and I need your eyes to find out how we can help him."

"Help _him_? What about my apprentice? What about the girl he torments and isolates and traumatises? You're doing it again, Albus. You're helping the Gryffindors and shunning my Slytherins!" Severus burst out angrily.

"Miss Potter is not a Slytherin, Severus." Albus cut in gently.

"She might as well be! Minerva despises her for some reason, nearly the entire house is against her with that boy, her own family, as their ring-leader. She's not _safe_ there and…"

"Severus!" Albus gasped as a sound like a foghorn blasted through the room.

A few moments later everything was quiet again. "Oh, Severus," Albus murmured.

Shocked at the sudden change in atmosphere the Potions Master took a minute to gather his bearings. When he spoke his voice was once again cool and collected. "What was that sound, Albus?"

"That," Albus smiled sadly, "was the sound of an Unsorting. As Miss Potter's Master you have the right to repudiate her Sorted House, given the right motivation. Apparantly the school agrees with your reasoning and has withdrawn your Apprentice from Gryffindor. She may now only wear your badge, and must forsake all Gryffindor colours."

"That is…acceptable." Severus said slowly, considering all possible repercussions from this sudden shift in status.

"It also means she may no longer room with the Misters Weasley, and will instead be sleeping in a room adjoining yours." Albus continued, resigned to the new situation. "I leave it to you to explain everything to her."

"But she will be safe."

"Yes," Albus finally smiled genuinely, "she will now be solely under your protection and it is unlikely the Gryffindors or indeed any student will try your patience now that you have made your claim on her this strong. You have essentially replaced the familial role of her Sorted House. Congratulations, my friend, on your new daughter."

Severus sneered, falling back on his preferred method of disdain to hide his complete astonishment at the sudden change in his life. "This will truly make Potter Sr's day. One of his children essentially fostered into the family of his schooltime enemy."

Albus merely smiled. "I suggest we refrain from mentioning that particular consequence of the Unsorting at this time."

Three chess moves later, the Potions Master nodded his agreement. "We'll keep it quiet for now." He hesitated for a fraction of a second and then continued, "And if it means this much to you, I will keep an eye on your Golden Boy. But understand that I do this out of respect for you alone, Albus. I have no love for the boy and I do not believe anything to be the matter with that child that cannot be fixed with a firm hand, but I will do this for you."

Severus received a grave nod in return, "Thank you, my friend. Your help is much appreciated."

Silence returned to the room as both men gathered their thoughts. On the chessboard the black queen decimated a lonely pawn and moved into position. Check.

"There is another matter I require your input in." Albus watched his friend carefully as the younger man sought the best way to parry both the precarious situation on the board and this new verbal salvo. In the end Severus merely inclined his head in question and moved the white queen's knight in the line of fire.

Albus silently applauded the nonchalance of both moves.

"I need to improve our line of communication with the Nightwalkers, and at our last meeting you suggested you may have a solution to this problem."

"Now did I?" The black eyes glinstered in challenge.

Albus twinkled back. '_So you want to play, my friend? I will play, oh yes._' Out loud he murmured depreciatively, "Perhaps my old ears deceived me. After all it would be foolish to propose my own protégé has surpassed me in the art of forging useful connections."

The sallow face soured at the well-aimed verbal stab, and Albus felt the familiar rush that always came with a verbal battle of wills. '_Check, my young friend. How will you parry my words?_'

"Indeed such a notion would be folly," Severus returned lazily, "as it is your unprecedented talent to rule over the chessboard that allows for such a multitude of connections and relations." Almost absently he trailed his finger over the black king, his opponent. "Luckily, however, there is no need for a protégé to take up such a restrictive position, only to utilise any and all resources already in place. And all the while, unlike the king, remaining free to move in any possible direction." With a swift move the younger man plucked his white queen from her place and positioned her in a place of attack.

"Well said, my friend, and well played." Albus smiled, his hand already moving over the board to deflect the actual chess attack. "However, if you indeed have the superior freedom of movement I would be very interested to hear what you may have discovered that may aid our cause." He leaned in confidentially. "After all, however powerful and versatile the queen may be in her movements, without a king she is lost."

The verbal match was over. '_Checkmate, my friend'._

Severus snarled angrily, annoyed at the easy way his pride had been played. He would have shared this information anyway, but he would have preferred it on his terms. "Just ask, Albus. Just bloody ask if you want to know. Yes, I have had dealings with the Nightwalkers before, when I sent my Apprentice to gather ingredients in the woods surrounding my Manor. She has discovered that while there are many social rules and restrictions, the two main foundation of the nation are violence and respect. You have failed to gain their respect with courtesies, and must therefore gain their respect through violence."

Albus leaned back in his seat, deep in thought. "You propose to stage a fight?"

"Yes," Severus said curtly, "you must request a fight before their ruling council, providing a list of possible fighters from our side. However I am nearly certain they will choose my Apprentice as their opponent."

"Miss Potter?" Albus asked in concern, "may I ask why?"

"She has managed to find her way into their good graces, and they will prefer to see her fight for your cause. For our cause."

"I see. And will this be dangerous to her? Will she accept?"

Severus waved a dismissive hand, "She will survive, and she will do as I tell her to. Though I rather think she would be insulted if they were to choose a different opponent than her. She has managed to incorporate their way of thinking into her own life rather easily."

"It will be as you say then. I will write a request for such a councilfight and have your Apprentice look it over for any unintended insults in the wording. And let us hope this will be enough to keep us from a war with the Nightwalkers." Albus sighed deeply, unhappy at the danger to which he would be exposing the young ex-Gryffindor.

Then, with a withered hand, he moved his knight to its intended square. "Checkmate, my young friend."

For the first time that day Albus laughed out loud and generously as the younger teacher stormed out of the room.

END CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

AN: Yes it's been unbearably long since my last update. Yes, I'm so so sorry! I'll see about getting the next one out at least one year sooner than the last time alright? :D

So this chapter is not so much a filler as a set-up for the final part of the story. I've decided on a course and needed this chapter to set it all up. Plus I thought it would be interesting to allow you some insight in Galen (who has remained rather one-dimensional up to this point) and Dumbles. Hope you enjoyed it!

Also, I'm looking for all the fics by Kamerreon. If anyone was smart enough to save them before they were taken down could you please send them to me? I will grant one requestscene in Shine or a one-shot!

Cheers my lovelies!


	33. Chapter 32

Disclaimer: Don't own anything

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

_'thoughts'_

"talking English"

°°Vampire language, also called Vampiric Mot°°

House-elf language, also called Gaëla

# Language of the Werewolves, also called Grawl #

/Language of the Goblins, also called Gobbledegook/

§ Centaur language, also called Starwan §

_PREVIOUS CHAPTER_

_Severus waved a dismissive hand, "She will survive, and she will do as I tell her to. Though I rather think she would be insulted if they were to choose a different opponent than her. She has managed to incorporate their way of thinking into her own life rather easily."_

_"It will be as you say then. I will write a request for such a councilfight and have your Apprentice look it over for any unintended insults in the wording. And let us hope this will be enough to keep us from a war with the Nightwalkers." Albus sighed deeply, unhappy at the danger to which he would be exposing the young ex-Gryffindor. _

_Then, with a withered hand, he moved his knight to its intended square. "Checkmate, my young friend."_

_For the first time that day Albus laughed out loud and generously as the younger teacher stormed out of the room._

000

Izzy was on edge.

It was the first thing Jenna noticed when she woke up. Izzy was on edge, hopping from foot to foot with little squeaks of distress. It had been this hopping, right on top of her head, that had finally roused her from her deep sleep.

The second thing she noticed was that she was alone in bed, her boys nowhere to be seen. Which was actually quite logical when Jenna finally noticed she was in her Master's guest room instead of the dorms. Her brow furrowed, why was she here when she clearly recalled going to sleep in the Tower? A faintly uneasy feeling settled in her stomach, but she pushed it away. Master would surely have a good explanation.

Still somewhat slow with sleep Jenna cupped her pet and nuzzled him against her face. It calmed the little guy down and managed to cheer her up as well. Whatever was coming today she would face it, as she always did.

With a last kiss to the fuzzy little animal, Jenna crawled out of bed and made her way to the shower. Izzy, noticing where they were going, immediately tried to climb to the top of his owner's head again, eager for the water. If there was anything the wuppy enjoyed, it was getting absolutely drenched in the shower. Or rain. Or in soup, as Jenna recalled with grimace. At least Fred had thought it hilarious.

It was a fresh-faced girl and a sopping ball of fur that finally made it to the waiting Potion Master's breakfast table.

The austere figure eyed the animal with a slight sneer before inclining his head at the table in silent consent and turning back to his book. Jenna gave him a quick smile and fought to stay equally quiet during her breakfast. She was anxious to find out why she had woken up here, while she had gone to sleep with the boys, but she knew from experience it would only take longer if she pressed the Potions Master. He would speak when he deemed it time.

The thirty minutes of silence that followed were only broken by Izzy's once again antsy squeaking. The dark glares that were thrown his way did nothing to curtail the behaviour, but made Jenna wilt a little in shame. Despondent, she once agin took to nuzzling her pet, even as the sinking feeling in her stomach intentsified.

When Master finally closed his book with a thud, Jenna froze in tense anticipation. Even Izzy quieted in her hold.

"Circumstances have led me to decide Gryffindor is no longer suited to your needs. You will remain at Hogwarts for the duration of your Apprenticeship, but shall no longer be allowed in Gryffindor territory." The Potions Master's voice was horrifyingly matter of fact.

Jenna blinked and slowly shook her head in dazed denial. It couldn't be. "But...Fred and George"

The deeply disapproving glare she received in response was enough to halt her spluttered refusal.

"You will still be able to meet up with the Misters Weasley but you will no longer stay in their dormroom." It was a statement of a fact and Jenna realised with a sinking heart that there would be no arguing her case. Master had decided. Master would brook no defiance.

A yell of frustration rose up in her, and she fought it down with difficulty. For years she had molded herself to please the multitude of people, of creatures, that felt they had the right to rule over her. She had given them those rights after all, and she had always been extremely aware of all that she was getting in return; companionship, training and maybe even something that approached family. So she had pushed away any disappointment, had taken each hit and had sacrificed everything that stood in her way because she had known that doing so was the right path for her.

But this...

The dorm with Fred and George had become her refuge from an increasingly complicated life. Her boys didn't expect her to study continually, to keep up perfect manners, to be reasonable and grown up. They just wanted her to be there. If she needed to let go they dragged her into a nighttime adventure around the castle, or a prank, or they entertained her with their wild stories. If she needed comfort they were there with their strong arms and bodies shielding her from the world, and if she needed to feel in charge they trustingly surrendered themselves into her hands. The dorm was the one place they could be away from judging, hostile eyes.

And now that was gone.

For the first time in years Jenna truly wanted to fight back. To scream. To...break the apprenticeship and be free. The bitterness from only days before rose up fast. So many had sworn to protect her, to guide her if..if..if. Always if. If she learnt the proper courtesies. If she obeyed. If she molded herself to fit their society. But when it came down to it, only Fred and George stood by her unconditionally. Only her boys.

But there was no fighting against an Apprentice-bond. Her very magic woud see to that.

She was no longer a Gryffindor, she had been unofficially disowned by the Potters years ago. All she had left was the title of Apprentice. Bitter tears stung her eyes as she nodded her understanding.

"Apprentice..."

The uncharacteristic hesitance in the man's voice drew Jenna's eyes to his. The normally cold eyes examined her closely, a hint of surprise shining in their depth. For a moment they stared at each other, until Master abruptly stood and stalked to the door. Just before he stepped into the corridor he threw over his shoulder, "You may, however, invite the Misters Weasley to join you in your room as long as you are discreet."

By the time Jenna fully understood the offer, the Potions Master had already left the room. It was Izzy alone who witnessed the tearful laughter of relief. And the strained bond between Master and Apprentice settled once again.

000

Severus sneered sharply at the students in his way as he stalked through the corridors of the castle. That had been harder than he had expected. His apprentice was always so self-contained that it had been startling to see the sudden vulnerability in her. He hadn't realised how much she had come to depend on those blasted Weasleys.

He grimaced as he recalled his own offer. The girl's moment of weakness had apparently inspired a moment of insanity in him. Weasleys in his private chambers. Weasleys _sleeping_ in his private chambers. _Those _Weasleys sleeping in his private chambers. He would definitely have to tighten his wards against pranks.

But..

He was getting soft that's what it was. The look on the girl's face. So young still. He forgot that sometimes. She was always so able and mature. Unless she was with the Weasleys.

Severus halted by the entrance to the library, still pondering the problem. The only times he saw the girl laughing, freely and childishly, was with those boys. Perhaps she was right to seek such interaction. If in moderation.

Shaking his head, determined to get back to more pressing matters, he made his way to the section on magical beings. The proposal for the councilfight to the Nightwalkers would have to be sent soon to avoid war. He wanted to have a draft for his Apprentice to look over today.

Two hours later Severus was drawn from his notes by the sound of loud laughter which was of course quickly hushed by the ever vigilant Madam Pince. Still, the sound was easily recognisable as the troublesome group of fourth year sycophants of the Potter brat. And since they followed their leader..

Severus nearly groaned as he caught sight of the brat himself, as always glorying in the attention of his followers. What in the bloody hell were they doing in his sanctuary? Surely none of them had evolved enough to be able to _read_? The comment sounded petty even in his mind.

"Merlin, Hermoine, why would you want be in here when we could be playing Quidditch outside?" It was the youngest, and most annoying, Weasley boy complaining loudly as he threw himself into a chair.

The muggleborn Granger glared at him for the comment and hissed back. "It is raining outside, Ronald. Why would you want to play Quidditch when it's raining? And be quiet. This is a library."

The Potter brat wrapped an arm around the tense girl and whispered with a grin, "Ignore him, Hermione. I, unlike Ron, do appreciate that you're willing to help us. So could you read over my Charms essay? Flitwick wasn't pleased with my last one, so I have to make this one better."

Granger huffed, but the tension drained out of her body and she took the offered sheet of parchment with a superior tut, "Well, did you honestly expect Professor Flitwick to accept that rag? Did you even add a list of the books you had consulted?"

The group fell silent for a second in stunned silence and then burst out in laughter again. "Don't you mean the _person_ he had consulted, Mione?" The Weasley boy went on with a grin, "Don't you remember that he copied most of that from you?"

"Well I received an O," Granger shot back, "so he must have done _something_ very wrong."

Severus approached the group under a quickly cast invisibility charm. Albus had asked him to check up on the Potter brat, well fine then. With a quick stab he entered the boy's mind even as he kept an ear out for the way the conversation was heading.

As expected the boy's mind was consumed with his friends, his image and ...ugh Quidditch. A quick look didn't reveal anything that might account for the boy's strange forgetful behaviour regarding the Apprenticeship. There were no patches of memory missing, no parts of the mind blocked off and no memories shrouded in fog.

But...Severus looked more intently at his surroundings when his ears caught the conversation between the teens turn to his Apprentice.

"What are we going to do about the freak, Gale?"

"Hmm?" There! Something had shifted!

"Didn't you hear? The Castle kicked her out of Gryffindor! Fred and George were up in arms about it when McGonagall came to tell them."

"I – yes, of course. What did you have in mind?" Severus frowned at the uncertain note in the brat's voice. That, coupled with the _something _shifting in the boy's mind painted a very strange picture. Severus wasn't sure what to think of it.

"Me? Usually you have the best ideas. You grew up with her after all!"

The boy's mind shifted one last time and to all intents and purposes seemed as if nothing had happened. Similarly, the boy's voice returned to its normal, pretentious timbre as he started throwing out ideas for pranks against his sister.

Thoughtfully Severus retreated from Potter's mind and spent a few more minutes observing the group. None of them seemed to have noticed anything out of the ordinary, and nothing of interest happened in the time before Severus left.

With a final silent snarl Severus turned back to his notes and gave a last curse as he realised that _once again_ Albus had been right. There was something very wrong with the Potter boy's behaviour and it had something to do with his Apprentice.

000

The scene Severus walked into when returning to his rooms was so ridiculous it halted him in his tracks. His Apprentice was stumbling around the room with the two Weasleys close at her heels, all in pursuit of a wildly spinning and whistling ball of fur.

The sight was hilarious, but stronger even was a sense of unease about the situation. Something he had seen before...Severus shook his head in annoyance. It was on the tip of his tongue.

The children certainly didn't seem to find anything wrong with the situation and were instead laughing raucously as they chased after the pet.

Severus' first instinct was to halt the shenanigans right away and restore order. But somehow that same soft spot from this morning reared its ugly head and let him see the happiness on his Apprentice's face. With a sigh at his own inability to keep a logical head, Severus glance down at the draft for the councilfight. Perhaps it would be best to talk it over with Albus first before asking his Apprentice to look it over. Moreover, he had to inform Albus about the incongruities of the Potter boy's mind.

Silently he closed the door behind him.

It wasn't until two hours later, in the middle of the meeting with Albus, that Severus suddenly realised what the whirling wuppy had reminded him of: A sneakoscope warning for immediate and lethal danger.

Seconds later the school's alarm boomed through the corridors.

000

Jenna gave a triumphant yell as her hands finally closed around the wild wuppy. In her enthusiasm she overbalanced and ended up on top of George. "I got him!"

George gasped out, "Great. And you got me too."

Contrite, Jenna rolled off her boyfriend and gave him the chance to catch his breath again. Fred merely laughed at his brother and girlfriend. "Good job, now maybe he'll calm down a bit. I don't know what you've fed him but it clearly is too much for him"

Jenna huffed, "I'll have you know I haven't given him anything out of the ordinary. How could I? Don't you remember he doesn't even have a mouth! He doesn't eat anything!" Her gaze turned concerned as she eyed the spinning animal in her hands. Thankfully his whistling had ceased."I don't know what's wrong with him. I've never seen him like this before."

Humming thoughtfully, Fred suggested "Maybe Hagrid will know what to do. He knows a lot about animals."

"Hagrid's out in Hogsmeade today," George added, once again able to breathe easily.

"Madam Pomphrey then?" Jenna said doubtfully.

Fred shrugged, "Why not? We can always try."

"Alrighty then. Let's go."

000

Madam Pomphrey was no help at all. She ranted about being a Medi-Witch and not a Ani-Witch, and how caring for wounded people was completely different from caring for wounded animals.

She left the three teens standing faintly baffled in the wing as she stormed back into her office.

"Well..." Fred sighed, looking mournfully at his twin, who immediately took up the conversation.

"That's .."

"just..."

"rude!" They said together.

When Jenna didn't comment on their twinspeak, they turned to see what had grabbed her attention. And any amusement they might have felt at the Medi-Witch's furious rant was doused.

In the bed on the corner was their mother, still recovering from her nervous breakdown during the Order meeting. She looked so pale and weak, so unlike her normal fiery self.

Fred gently guided his girlfriend to the bed. "You hadn't been by to visit before?"

Jenna shook her head mutely.

"I know, she looks horrible." George came to stand by her side. "But she's doing a lot better with Madam Pomphrey's calming potions. It just became too much for her; us missing and the war starting up and even seeing how little concerned your parents were about your disappearance."

Jenna made to say something, but Fred shook his head. His voice was infinitely gentle, "She's sorry, you know. She is truly, truly sorry about how she treated you. When she's better you'll see. She wants to make it up to you. To us."

Lost for words, Jenna nodded. She wasn't used to apologies. Not from adults.

But maybe...

She did so very much want Molly Weasley to like her. Maybe..

"It's almost time for your Quidditch practice," her voice sounded strange even to her own ears.

"Kitten?"

"Go. Go practice. I think I'm going to sit here for a while."

"Will you be okay here, love?" George whispered.

Jenna nodded back, her eyes still on the sleeping woman. "Yeah, I'll be fine. If she wakes up...We'll see. I can always leave."

The boys dithered for a few more moments, but they too wished for better relations between their mother and girlfriend.

"Come get us if you need us, ok?" Fred asked one more time.

Jenna rolled her eyes. "Go, enjoy your Quidditch practice. I'll see you at dinner."

And they were gone.

The hospital wing was quiet when they left, and Jenna took the time to imagine what she would say if the woman really did wake up. Would they fight? Or did Molly Weasley really intend to do better? And what did that mean for Ron and Ginny's attitudes?

Lost in thought she didn't even notice when Molly's eyes opened and settled on her.

But she did notice when Izzy let out a deafening screech.

And then all hell broke loose.

END CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

I'll bet you didn't expect to see anything from me again did you? Well, I'm really trying to finish this damned fic (it's been waaaay too long already) but it's hard to find the enthusiasm when I read the beginning and see such ridiculous things. Honestly how unrealistically horrible have I made life for my OC? Ah, well, I've got the rest of the chapters planned out but I don't know exactly when I'll be writing them. My good intentions never seem to hold. But I'm trying. Do I get points for that?

One other thing, I'm looking for Branwen777's fics. So if anyone has her fics could you maybe send them to me? My email is flee _ or_ fight hotmail .com (of course without the spaces in between) thanks!


	34. Chapter 33

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

_LAST CHAPTER_

_The hospital wing was quiet when they left, and Jenna took the time to imagine what she would say if the woman really did wake up. Would they fight? Or did Molly Weasley really intend to do better? And what did that mean for Ron and Ginny's attitudes? _

_Lost in thought she didn't even notice when Molly's eyes opened and settled on her._

_But she did notice when Izzy let out a deafening screech._

_And then all hell broke loose._

"WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

A deafening horn sounded in the Hospital Wing. The Hogwart's Alarm.

Jenna squawked at the sudden overwhelming noise and clasped her hands over her ears. It took a few moments for her to recognise the sound and to realise that actual danger was upon Hogwarts.

And then, over all the noise, she heard the screams.

Gasping in horror Jenna ran to the windows, desperate to see what was happening. It was chaos outside. The second years, who had been outside for Herbology, were closest. They were running back to the castle in a panic with behind them...

Dementors. Hordes and hordes of Dementors, scattering and herding dozens of students across the grounds.

Unnoticed to Jenna, Izzy fell silent when his Mistress finally noticed the danger he had been trying to warn her about all day.

Jenna choked on a scream as her eye fell on the Quidditch pitch were she knew the Gryffindor team had been practicing. "Fred! George!" The pitch was swarming with black figures while desperate figures on brooms tried to get away.

"NO!" Desperation urged her on as she flew to the doors of the Hospital Wing. She had to go out there. To help!

And then she was flat on her back as the Hospital Wing's wards threw her back into the room. Hogwarts had gone into lock-down, sealing the students in if the room they were in was deemed safe. "No!" Jenna scrambled back on her feet and stormed at the invisible wall, pounding helplessly to find a weak spot in the barrier. On the ground Izzy loyally joined her, running with stubborn determination into the ward with all his strength.

Her wand lay forgotten in her holster.

"Jenna?"

Bashing against the invisible barrier wildly, Jenne didn't notice the voice trying to get her attention.

"Jenna!"

A pair of arms wrapped around her from behind. "Jenna, dear, calm down!"

"NO!" It was a wild scream, a strangled scream of unrestrained panic. "NO! FRED! GEORGE!"

"You will calm down, young lady!" The tone of voice was so unmistakeably parental that Jenna froze a brief moment in confusion. No-one ever spoke to her like that. The hesitation was enough to break through her panic as the voice continued briskly, "What our b-boys need is a Patronus." A small tremble of emotion finally clued Jenna in to the identity of the speaker.

Molly Weasley, pale but determined, drew her wand and prepared to cast a Patronus. "Now, hurry up and copy what I do. You need to think of a happy moment. Our boys need us."

Yes. The Boys. Save them.

Once again focused, Jenna drew her wand and called upon her magic to cast the strongest patronus of her life. There was no thought to hiding her skills, only to SaveThemSaveThemSaveThem. With a wild wrench of her wand the silver puffin emerged, brighter and bigger than she had ever seen it. It regarded her with huge, intelligent (too intelligent for patronus-not possible- don't care- please save them!) silver eyes and then snapped its gaze towards the battle sounds outside. But it wasn't until the large form had sped through the Castle Walls that Jenna felt her knees threaten to buckle, gasping at the heavy strain on her magic. Too much. What the hell had she cast?

She was blind and deaf to the astonished queries from Molly Weasley and instead clawed at the rough stones of the wall to keep herself upright as she made her way to the window. The view had only gotten worse during her frantic tries to get out. The grounds were a battlefield, nothing less could describe it. The Dementors swarmed over the grass like grim reapers, alternately chasing students or being chased by the various silver patronusforms and even by Fawkes.

Neither the teachers nor the Dementors seemed to be winning, and the only side losing were the students. The screams were fainter now, the children out of breath, out of energy, out of options. Some of the second-years had made it to the gates and to safety, but there were several bodies, big and small, sprawled on the ground, some with an ominous shadow hanging over them. Kissed.

And through the chaos Jenna tracked her super puffin as it raced towards the Pitch, driving several Dementors away from potential victims as it sped by. Jenna leaned forward holding her breath as the puffin reached the Pitch.

And raced past it. Into the Forbidden Forest.

"No." It wasn't even a whisper. Just a sigh of complete and utter disbelief. Her patronus should have gone to save Fred and George. She had sent it, directed it to save her boys. How dare her magic disobey her like this! "NO!"

In the distance a robed form plummeted from a broom. Even as it fell it was eagerly set upon by several Dementors. Was it Fred? George?

For the first time since she had started her Apprenticeship, Jenna felt truly helpless. She couldn't go out, she had depleted her magic too much to cast anything anymore (and even then, would her magic listen?), she couldn't help her boys. She couldn't help them. She would lose them. Her life would go back to empty obedience. Alone.

She didn't even notice as a patronus lion jumped past her through the wall, didn't notice that she was joined by another in her burning desire to save the boys. Her eyes stared blindly ahead at the Pitch even as two plump arms carefully embraced her.

"Hush, dearie."

Jenna moaned low in her throat.

"I know, dear."

"They're _out there_." Jenna wasn't aware of speaking, but something in her warmed as she slowly recognised that she wasn't alone. That there was somebody here was just as desperate for the safe return of Fred and George, and of whoever else was out there.

"And we can't help them." There were arms around her, Jenna realised. They tightened even as the hoarse voice spoke her worst fears.

"I want them _back._"

This time Jenna felt the person behind her swallow harshly. "So do I."

And for the first time in years, desperate for comfort, Jenna relaxed in the consoling hold of an adult and let her guard down. With a sob, Jenna turned away from the window, burying her face in the woman's neck. Her link to the boys."I c-can't .."

"We'll ask Merlin for strength. For them."

Molly Weasley's arms around her were warm and strong and safe and together they huddled as the battle raged. And they preyed to whoever would listen.

It took forever for the screams to change.

Molly was the first to notice and after a glance out the window she turned Jenna around. "Look!"

It was an incredible sight, never seen before in Wizarding History. Dozens and dozens of Centaurs had left the Forbidden Forest and were shooting sparkling silver arrows at the Dementors, steadily driving them away from the grounds.

Centaurs aiding, saving wizards and witches.

Freely.

And leading the way was a magnificent silver puffin.

000

The moment the alarm wards were down, the Hospital Wing became a hive of activity. The students and teachers requiring immediate attention were brought in and seen to by Madame Pomphrey and several Emergency Healers flooed in from St Mungo's. Some were healed with a quick potion or healing charm and then sent to the Great Hall where the uninjured part of the school was taking part in a a chocolate meal capped off with chocolate milk and chocolate cake to drive off the chill of the Dementors. Several patients were too critically injured however, and were either sent to St Mungo's or assigned a personal Healer in a private room. Those who had been Kissed were laid to bed in the back of the Hospital Wing. There was nothing to be done for them anymore, so the living took precedent.

Jenna had been bustled out unceremoniously, sent to the Great Hall. The Medi-Witch had no patience for a panicked student wishing to find her boyfriends and her blistering comments had sent Jenna scurrying into hallways. Molly Weasley had been kept behind since she had been trained as an assistant Medi-Witch, so Jenna made her way to the Great Hall alone.

It wouldn't have been a problem if she hadn't been on the verge of magical exhaustion.

Halfway to the Great Hall she simply couldn't go on anymore. While the school screamed and ran and cried around her, this student collapsed in a random hallway, a depressed little ball of fur huddled on her head.

000

Albus Dumbledore had never felt so old. He stood surrounded by his injured children and staff, his lost children and staff. Some would never wake up again. Others would lose parts of themselves. And every single child in his care had lost its innocence. Every child had felt the chill of the Dementors, had heard the screams of their dying peers and teachers. Every child had felt the terror no child should ever have to face.

Two teachers had lost their souls as they battled for the lives of their students, Madame Hooch and Professor Sinistra. Eight students, some as young as fourteen, were lost as well. As he looked down at their pale, lax faces Albus couldn't help but compare them to just this morning. The three Huffelpuff Chasers had looked mischievous, in hindsight they had probably been excited by their plans to skip their lessons to spy on the Gryffindor Quidditch practice. They had hidden themselves well. No teacher had seen them to offer aid.

The Dementors had found them easily however.

The two Ravenclaws second years were the hardest to look at. So young. They hadn't made it back alive from their lesson Herbology. Professor Sprout had tried her hardest, but she hadn't been able to protect all 34 of the children in her class, especially when they started running around in a panic.

One Slytherin. Albus felt a wave of shame as he recalled his initial surprise over a Slytherin victim. He knew he was guilty of stereotyping the Snake House sometimes, simply because of Tom's strong connection to the house. However, it was undeniably suspicious that the attack had taken place during a Gryffindor Quidditch practice, a Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff Herbology lesson and a Gryffindor/Ravenclaw Care of Magical Creatures lesson. No Slytherin should have been outside.

Rose Zeller would never be able to explain what she had been doing by the lake when she should have been in Transfiguration.

The last two beds. Two lions. Lee Jordan and Katie Bell. They had fought hard. Fought bravely. And had gone down roaring to defend the fourth year COMC class, saving them all.

Albus shook his head in grief. So many lost. So many still fighting for their lives. This should not have happened. How could you, Tom?

000

In one of the side rooms of the Hospital Wing James Potter sat anxiously gripping his wife's hand, awaiting the Healer's verdict. "Well?"

The grey-haired man shook his head with a frown. "He was not Kissed, Mr Potter. That much I can tell you. However, it seems the effect the Dementors had a much stronger effect on him than several of his peers." The man pursed his lips in though. "Though I suppose that is not that surprising when one considers what he has gone through. The worst memory of the Boy-Who-Lived is sure to be more unpleasant than the worst memory of any other adolescent."

The anxious parents nodded in understanding, still waiting desperately for some good news.

"From what I understand from eye-witnesses young Mr Potter fell unconscious shortly after the arrival of the Dementors and subsequently went into convulsions. Nobody has been able to rouse him since." The man ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "And I do not feel I am able to help you any further. He needs a mind Healer, a strong mind Healer that can get through the root of the problem. It is not a physical problem-"

"What about magical?" Lily Potter interrupted. "Can it be magical? That would make sense, wouldn't it? I mean, my son is very strong mentally. He has never given any indication he was so troubled by his early memories. It makes much more sense he tried something to save his friends which backfired on him magically!"

The Healer was professional enough to refrain from glaring at the interruption, but the idea had merit. Turning back to the patient he cast a largely unused Healer's charm to trace any kind of magical problem in the boy.

The results made him whirl around in a fury.

"How could you let your son walk around all those years with a broken bond!"

At seeing the two uncomprehending faces the Healer exploded. "Are you truly telling me you had no idea your son has suffered from a severed twin bond for most of his life?"

"Twin bond?" James murmured in doubt. Turning to the Healer he tried to explain, "Our son has a twin, but he and his sister don't have a twin bond. They've never seen eye to eye on anything, really. It can't be that.."

"No twin bond?" The Healer roared. "There is _always _a twin bond! Twins are two halves of one soul. Always! And your son has suffered without the other half of his soul for his entire life." He gestured angrily at the comatose boy. "And you are surprised the memory was too much for him? It is a testament to his strength he has been able to survive this far at all!"

"But he hates her," Lily put in earnestly.

"Of course he does!" The Healer sat down heavily in his chair, his anger spent and weariness at the hopeless situation beginning to set in. "Of course he hates her. Her absence hurts him, beyond anything he can rationally understand. How can you not hate that which causes you the most unbearable pain?"

"She hurts him?" James frowned, growing angry in turn.

The Healer looked up at the tone, studied the parents in front of him, and felt his eyes growing wide in understanding. "Mr and Mrs Potter, permission to scan you for broken bonds?"

At the two uncomprehending nods he cast his scan twice more, comfirming his suspicions.

"Mr and Mrs Potter," the Healer ran a hand over his face in weariness. "Pardon my bluntness, but I truly need your complete honesty on this part. When did you start resenting your daughter?"

The question was so unexpected and so frank that the Potters were too stunned to react in anger.

"The reason I ask," the Healer went on, "is because whatever happened to sever your children's twin bond coincided with a severing of the parental bond. You as adults, however, should have been able to deal with the unexpected loss much more easily, which should have allowed you to treat your daughter much less harshly than I'm sure your son has done."

A cold chill ran up the Healer's back as the parents had a silent conversation with their eyes, but he carried on without mentioning it. Whatever they had done to their daughter, it was sure to have been unpleasant. However, the son's case took precedent at the moment.

"Typically in broken familial bonds it concerns a deceased child. The twin who is left behind suffers and usually becomes aggressive towards the memory of the deceased until finally all anger is burnt out and the memory of the other is slowly forgotten. There have also been cases of a broken bond following a near-fatal experience. The injured child will not notice the shredded connections much initially, but as the behaviour of once beloved family members changes so will this child. His twin will express either the same aggressive behaviour as in the first case or complete antipathy towards the sibling. The result is the same, however. In the end the child with the severed bond will lose all memory of ever having had a twin. He or she will, however, spend the rest of their life restless, searching for something they will never find."

All three adults looked at the drawn, young face on the bed, envisioning his future.

"Add a traumatic experience such as this Dementor attack, where the child is forced to relive the breaking of the bond, and..." The Healer held up his hands helplessly. "I don't know if we can reach him anymore."

"What..." James licked his lips, a faint hint of guilt in his eyes, "What if we get his twin to come by?"

The Healer had already started shaking his head before the father had finished speaking. "With the advanced stage of your son's condition, it is likely he has already started losing his memories of her. At first merely moments of confusion, eventually he won't even remember her existence. At this point it wouldn't surprise me if he no longer recognises her as family." With only a slight accusation in his tone he continued, "If none of you recognise her as family anymore, or indeed she you." He saw the comment hit home.

"Most likely your son's (and yours, the Healer would have liked to add) aggression towards her has sparked in her either reciprocating aggression or, more likely, deep fear. Bringing her in at this point would serve no goal but to strain the situation even more. My advice would be to see if you can find a Healer specialised in Bonds to bring your son out of the coma. Then forget you ever had a daughter and let your children find as much peace as they will ever have."

With this bleak prospect he left the room, first to inform the school Headmaster of the happenings and then to go home and hug his own little daughter. He needed the comfort.

END CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Dear all. Yes, I know. It took forever again, right? And I haven't even re-read or checked this chapter so there might be a lot of mistakes or inconsistencies. But at least you know what happened after the cliff-hanger, so that's something. I've got the rest all planned out, but I'm finding it very difficult to sit down and get my ideas on paper (or screen really) when I've finally reached the summer holidays and the sun is FINALLY here. But for you, I'll try.

Thank you to all reviewers. I enjoy your encouraging words and laugh very loudly at some of the more artistic ones (never had somebody chide me/beg for more chapters in rhyme before! ha!). So thanks!

I can promise nothing but the fact that I will one day finish it. Don't know when (I'll try to make it soon, but then I always try that) but it will not remain a WIP forever.


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